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‘The Bachelorette’ Season 16, Episode 3 Recap: Everybody Hates Dale (Except Clare Crawley)

Welcome back to another (semi predictable) episode of The Bachelorette. This time, Clare Crawley faced the aftermath of last week’s controversial group date before hosting a roast gone awry.

Here’s what went down in season 16, episode three of The Bachelorette.

ABC/Craig Sjodin

The episode picks up right where we left off in last week’s installment, with Yosef confronting Crawley at the cocktail party for making the contestants play strip dodgeball.

“I’m ashamed to be associated with you,” he says. “I can’t believe I sacrificed so much to be here.”

When Yosef refuses to let Crawley speak, she cuts him off and sends him home, saying she’d never want her children to have a father like him. Sound familiar, Juan Pablo Galavis?

At the rose ceremony, Crawley hands out roses to everyone but Blake Monar, Garin and Tyler S.

The next day, Crawley sits down for a brief chat with former Bachelorette DeAnna Pappas. Shortly after, she embarks on the first group date with Blake, Chasen, Dale, Eazy, Ed, Jay, Jason and Riley. It doesn’t take long for Crawley to dedicate all of her attention to Dale, who immediately becomes the one-to-beat. To no one’s surprise, Dale gets the group date rose.

Zach J. is thrilled when he lands the only one-on-one date, which doubles as a spa day. The problem is Crawley can’t stop thinking about Dale, who’s nowhere to be found. *Sigh* Instead of attending dinner, Crawley sends host Chris Harrison as her replacement. Zach J. goes home (natch).

For the second group date, Crawley tasks the remaining men—Ben, Bennett, Brendan, Demar, Ivan, Joe, Jordan C., Kenny and Zac C.—with writing a roast. When the men realize they’re performing in front of the other contestants, they immediately gang up on one particular audience member: Dale.

The episode concludes with Crawley grilling the men later that night, demanding to know why they roasted Dale. In fact, she brings up Dale during every single one of their conversations, and it doesn’t go unnoticed. Not to mention, she doesn’t hand out the group date rose. #Ouch

ABC/Craig Sjodin

Although the episode ends on a cliffhanger, we can’t help but wonder: Do the contestants drive Crawley to quit The Bachelorette?

We won’t know exactly what happens until the season progresses, but based on tonight’s episode, it’s clear the men have negative feelings toward Dale. If Crawley continues to give Dale attention, it’ll only get worse. (Because jealousy doesn’t just vanish into thin air.)

The problem? Crawley seemed personally offended when the men roasted Dale during the group date. So, if they regularly pester her about the amount of attention that she gives Dale, we wouldn’t be surprised if it plays a role in her departure.

We’re not saying that Crawley makes her decision solely based on the annoying contestants. However, if the men continue talking smack about her frontrunner, they might push Crawley to throw in the towel altogether. After all, she’s never been good at handling pressure. Just saying.

The Bachelorette returns to ABC next Thursday, November 5, at 8 p.m.

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Greta Heggeness

Senior Editor

Greta Heggeness is a California-based editor at PureWow and has been writing about entertainment since 2015. She covers everything from awards shows to exclusive celebrity...
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