The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown everyone for a loop this year, especially those within the  filming industry. When the Bachelor franchise postponed Clare Crawley’s season of “The Bachelorette”, I was devastated. My religious Monday night routine of rosé, petty drama and an intense love-hate relationship with the Bachelor franchise was put on hold—until two weeks ago, when Clare’s season aired. 

For my fellow Bachelor nation members, you know there are moments in seasons that are so cringe-worthy you can’t escape the second-hand embarrassment that makes you want to cry and laugh at the same time—but when have you ever wanted to get up and leave the room? Because that’s how I have felt every minute during the first two episodes. 

The bottom line is that Clare is just too old to be on this show. She expects this wide-age ranged group of men to be on the exact same page as her on day one, which is tragically unrealistic. The  39-year old has been a part of the Bachelor franchise for over six years, first in 2014 as the semi-finalist in Juan Pablo’s season of The Bachelor and then she appeared again on season one and two of The Bachelor in Paradise and season one of The Bachelor: Winter Games, where she walked away with an engagement with contestant Benoit Beauséjour-Savard, but broke off the engagement two months later. 

One would think she would be a bit more mature, as a seasoned Bachelor contestant, but she is not. During the second episode, Clare lashed out at the men for letting an awkward pause happen during a group date and it was clearly an overreaction. Clare obviously hasn’t done much Zooming in the last eight months, otherwise an awkward pause would have been completely expected. It seems like her expectations are too high for the short time she has known these men. 

In terms of expectations, Clare said on the first night that she was confident she had met her husband. Her desperation on the show stands out as she pushes these men to be more vulnerable and emotionally than ever before on the show, especially this early in the season.

 On her one-one-one with Jason, Clare forced him to share his innermost demons and feelings. It was an obvious attempt to rush a connection between them. Don’t get me wrong, The Bachelor rushes relationships in nature, but this was unfair to Jason. No one should be coerced into sharing such personal and emotional trauma on national television—let alone on a first date during the first week. We get it Clare—you are looking for a husband, but stop trying so hard—this is what the show is for. 

The second episode was two hours packed full of cringe-worthy moments, but the worst, by far, was Clare’s awful ruling of strip dodgeball. The losing team had to walk through the resort butt-naked after Clare hugged them goodbye—again, while naked—and did not get to go to the after party to spend time with Clare. I don’t know if these men gave consent to strip down naked, but I sure hope so. I blame the producers for this more than Clare, but watching her watching these men—looking excited and playing it off as her own idea—as they stripped down, was the most uncomfortable experience. 

Twitter blew up with comments lashing out at Clare’s decision to have the team strip down calling her out for objectification and sexism. But, we all must remember that on Peter Weber’s season, he had the women do a lingerie pillow fight. Although Clare didn’t help the situation feel more comfortable, it is important to remember who is really behind the scenes—the producers. But I won’t get into that. 

Rumors have been circulating that Clare has left this season early due to several different theories. It is rumored that after finding the love of her life—Dale—with whom she saw being her husband on night one, Clare leaves the show after several weeks of filming. I sincerely hope that is the case, since rumors also speculate that the beloved Tayshia Adams will be taking over for Clare. I loved watching Tayshia on The Bachelor in Paradise, but either way Clare simply needs to go. Her time is over, and in all honesty, if I hear her say she’s the oldest Bachelorette one more time, I am going to turn off the television.