With Clare Crawley sweltering in the desert as her Bachelorette season begins its pandemic production, let’s savor one last drop of rosy intel before we block Reality Steve for a few months: her contestant pool. Per tradition, the show has given fans an early look at the men who “may†compete for Crawley’s heart in an incubated Palm Springs resort, with a whopping 42 suitors being teased on The Bachelorette’s Facebook page before a final cut is made in the upcoming days. Of these men, only — sigh — two of them are actually Crawley’s age or older. There’s one 40-year-old and another 39-year-old, while all the other contestants are younger than Crawley (like this 37-year-old moonlighting catalog model, hello) and skew as young as 26. Crawley, who’s the oldest Bachelorette in the show’s history, recently turned 39, and has discussed in the past how she typically prefers to date younger men.
“I’m wondering if they’re ready for me, for my age,†she said during her first round of Bachelorette press. “I feel that would be more of an issue than me with them, because I feel so much younger at heart than my actual age. I’m proud of my age, but I just feel younger. That, to me, is what’s important.†Crawley added, as a sweet grenade of a warning: “I’m not the one you guys should be worried about, let me tell you that.†From experience, we know.