Chris Harrison Confirms New, Older Guys Will Be Cast For Clare Crawley’s ‘Bachelorette’ Season

Chris Harrison has confirmed that some “different” guys will be added to Clare Crawley’s season of The Bachelorette when production resumes in the future. Following the unexpected shutdown of the rose-filled reality show in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the longtime host of The Bachelor franchise revealed that not all of the men who were originally cast to court Clare will be coming back—and perhaps not any of them.

Harrison told Entertainment Tonight that the 32 men who were originally cast for Clare’s season were given their phones back and were released from production after last Friday’s limo meet-and-greets at the Bachelor mansion were suddenly canceled.

Harrison noted that not every guy that was able to take time off from work to compete on The Bachelorette will be available when the show resumes. There is no set date for production to restart.

The ABC host added that when filming for The Bachelorette does pick back up, “there will be some different guys” cast to date Clare.

“Maybe it will be completely different guys. Maybe it will be a mixture,” Harrison said. “Who knows?”

One thing that Harrison is adamant about is that the new guys will be more age-appropriate for Clare. The show received backlash when the list of suitors for the 39-year-old Bachelorette star was released last week. The original contestants ranged in age from 23 to 42, with an average age of 29 years old, a full decade younger than the Sacramento hairdresser.

Harrison says that won’t happen this time around.

“I’m all for casting new guys,” the Bachelorette host said. “Is Clare going to date a 23-year-old man? No, she’s not. It’s just not going to happen.”

In comments to Clare’s Instagram post about the temporary Bachelorette shutdown, fans agreed that the dating show needs to do some recasting during its downtime.

“They need OLDER GUYS!!!!” one fan wrote, while another added that the “cougar” look would not be flattering for Clare.

Clare has already suggested that her season of the show should be recast. The Bachelorette star noted that it was nothing personal against the guys already out there, but that since there is now an unexpected break, there is time to submit other people.

In addition, Clare’s Bachelor Pad co-star Michelle Money has been vocal about the fact that in order to give Clare the best shot at finding love, guys for her season should be in their 30s or 40s, with no one under age 29.