WARNING: The following contains spoilers for the Season 16 of The Bachelorette, airing now on ABC.

After the chaotic, immature recent seasons of the Bachelor franchise, the vast majority of Bachelor Nation was hoping for a more grown-up and diverse lead to take the reins of the show going into an already chaotic year. Thankfully, the producers of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette took notice, and cast Matt James as the first Black bachelor, as well as the oldest Bachelorette in history, 39-year-old Clare Crawley. Crawley, a franchise regular, was most known for her rebuke of widely hated Bachelor Juan Pablo Galavis when he decided not to propose to her. This maturity and confidence seemed just what the fanbase desired, and once COVID restrictions lifted, her promising season finally began filming.

However, things soon started breaking down on the contained set. The Bachelorette, famous for its leaks ahead of the season premiere, was flooded with rumors of upset and turmoil on the set, including speculation over the early departure of lead Crawley. Although the leaks about her exit were confirmed during last week's episode, it was not the only contentious matter that caused a stir amongst the audience.

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Let's first address the elephant in the room -- Clare is no longer the Bachelorette. Despite having a (relatively) mature and charismatic batch of prospective romantic prospects, Crawley immediately fell in love with ex-football player Dale Moss, and their relationship dominated her time as the lead. Their obvious attraction even became distracting for the other contestants vying for her affection, especially on group dates. On one occasion, after making the contestants wait for hours for a date that never took place, Clare and Dale went off to canoodle for an hour, leaving the other candidates bitterly sipping their drinks by themselves. Even on her one-on-one dates, Clare admitted to being distracted by her feelings for Dale.

In The Bachelorette's most recent episode, host Chris Harrison finally confronted Clare after signs of revolt from some of the contestants in the house. She confirmed her love for Dale, and after he reciprocated (and shockingly proposed), they left the show to be together. This allowed another former franchise alum, Tayshia Adams, to take over as lead, becoming the second-ever Black Bachelorette, a welcome casting given the show's history of diversity issues.

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Clare's time on the show was not without further issues, however. On one group date, Clare instructed the men to play a game of strip dodgeball, in which the team left naked would be uninvited to the subsequent cocktail party. Although this highly produced show most likely instructed Crawley to order the disrobing, this decision still caused controversy within the house, with disgusted contestant Yosef loudly lashing out at the Bachelorette before self-eliminating. Although many dates in the Bachelor franchise are frequently embarrassing and/or involving partial nudity, the decision to have some of the men fully disrobe sparked criticism over objectification and double standards with the male cast.

Another moment that was sparked controversy was the elimination of contestant Zach J. On a one-on-one, an awkward moment involving a failed kiss resulted in Clare deeming Zach J's behavior to be triggering and aggressive. With her mind made up, Harrison was dispatched to send him home. This exchange fueled the continuation of the discourse over consent and the role of production in protecting its cast.

Despite the recent controversies, the replacing of Clare with Tayshia has seemed to calm tempers in the house. Then again, for a show that notoriously claims every season to be "the most dramatic season yet," there's still a lot of room for further contention between the remaining men and the new Bachelorette.

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