The Bachelorette will reportedly begin production on Season 16 shortly, right after Clare Crawley and her cast of bachelors get tested for COVID-19 and quarantine for a period of time.

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The Bachelorette's sixteenth season was originally supposed to have begun filming in March and premiere on May 18, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and global health restrictions that have shut down nearly all Hollywood productions, the season has yet to begin filming and Clare has been waiting patiently to start her journey to find love.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Clare, however, teased last week on an episode of Bachelor Happy Hour podcast, "I found out maybe two hours ago actually when I'll be going down and the final day that I'm leaving so it's very, very soon!"

And Warner Horizon Unscripted, which produces The Bachelorette, confirmed to Variety that production on Clare's season of The Bachelorette is right around the corner.

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"The cast will start traveling very soon because there has to be a quarantine period," a person close to production told Variety.

Cast and crew will reportedly be tested for COVID-19 before entering the isolated location where filming will take place, and everyone will be tested regularly with routine temperature checks for the duration of production in order to ensure everyone's health and safety.

"We obviously can't shoot a dating show with people in close quarters where people aren't cleared and we know everything is safe," another source told Variety.

"It will be a super safe paradise for everyone to shoot the show."

The entire The Bachelorette season will reportedly be filmed at one quarantined location with cast and crew living on-site.


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Visitors and members of the press will reportedly not be allowed on the set in order to essentially create a bubble around The Bachelorette and all of its essential workers.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)

"Health and safety of our crew and cast is the number one concern," another source explained, adding that there is always an on-site medic during The Bachelor or The Bachelorette production.

"There is always robust care for our team, and that will be the case as they isolate and shoot the show. Production is going above-and-beyond the recommendations."

Warner Horizon Unscripted has yet to reveal the location and exact start date of filming, but a source said Clare will date her suitors and hopefully fall in love in a private area in Southern California that's not in Los Angeles.

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Fans are also still waiting for The Bachelorette to announce its Season 16 premiere date, but ABC revealed the show will air on Tuesday nights from 8-10PM ET/PT this fall.

Dancing with the Stars' 29th season is slated to air in The Bachelorette's usual timeslot of Monday nights at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.

The Bachelorette is reportedly the first major primetime show to resume production in the United States amid the ongoing pandemic.

ABC reality chief Robert Mills said during an appearance on the On Air with Ryan Seacrest radio show earlier this month that producers were planning to start production on The Bachelorette "in about a month," which would mean mid-to-late July.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)


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"[The cast] won't be at The Bachelor mansion. They will be at some sort of resort and we've scouted several of them and all of them have been scouted for good date locations," Mills shared.

Clare's potential 32 The Bachelorette bachelors were announced back in March, but due to the delay in production, men continued to apply and the casting process was extended.

The Bachelorette host Chris Harrison previously said Clare could end up with a totally different lineup of guys than initially expected because of their schedules. Matt James, for instance, was plucked out of Clare's cast and promoted to star on The Bachelor's 25th season in 2021.

Clare was a 32-year-old from Sacramento, CA, when she was first introduced to Bachelor Nation on Juan Pablo Galavis' season of The Bachelor in 2014. She finished as his runner-up.

Clare then unsuccessfully continued to search for love on Seasons 1 and 2 of Bachelor in Paradise, which aired on ABC in 2014 and 2015.


Clare got engaged to French Canadian bachelor Benoit Beausejour-Savard on the reunion special for The Bachelor Winter Games, which aired in early 2018, but they broke up in April of that year.

At age 39, Clare will be the oldest The Bachelorette star in show history.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.