Not holding back! Melissa Rycroft isn’t sure if Clare Crawley and Dale Moss have what it takes to go all the way after their quick engagement on The Bachelorette.
“This is going to sound really negative. I don’t think they’re going to last ’cause I don’t think they have the foundation, you know?” the season 13 Bachelor alum, 37, told Us Weekly exclusively on Wednesday, November 18, while promoting the return of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team. “We haven’t seen the deep intimate talks and … there is a big difference between a 39-year-old woman and a 31-year-old guy.”
Crawley and Moss shocked all of Bachelor Nation when they left season 16 two weeks into filming after the former football player popped the question. Before the bombshell season premiered in October, Us confirmed that Tayshia Adams would be stepping in as a second lead after the production team was left “scrambling” in the wake of Crawley’s exit.
Now that the hairstylist’s romance with Moss has been thrown into the spotlight, Rycroft fears that they could be headed for rocky territory.
“Does [Dale] want to get married next year and have kids? Maybe … but he may also kind of get a taste of what Bachelor Nation can do to somebody and then say, ‘You know what? I don’t want to be tied down right now and I want to experience all of this,’” the Dancing With the Stars alum told Us. “I mean, the pessimist in me is saying it’s probably not going to work out. The romantic though is like, maybe. I mean, for Clare’s sake, we all want it to work out because heaven forbid it doesn’t, seriously.”
Following their speedy engagement, Crawley and the South Dakota native sat down for a tell-all interview with host Chris Harrison. Despite criticism from fans, the duo denied that they had any communication with each other before arriving at La Quinta Resort & Club in California this summer. Rycroft, however, isn’t quite sure.
“I think I’m convinced that she stalked him online [and] fell in love with him online because she said that she did,” the Texas native added. “I think that’s what happened is she created a fantasy in her head. … That’s why I think every time we see Dale, he’s like, ‘OK, all right. Oh, kids, we’re having kids.’ He looks totally shell-shocked every time that you see him.”
Rycroft experienced a shocking twist of her own while competing for Jason Mesnick‘s heart on the 13th season of the ABC dating series in 2009. Though he originally proposed to Rycroft, the 44-year-old former Bachelor eventually left her for his runner-up, Molly Malaney, whom he wed in 2010
While watching Crawley’s journey play out, Rycroft admitted it was “hard to watch” the other suitors get neglected. As the unprecedented season continues, the Bachelor Pad alum has high hopes for Adams, 31.
“I think she’s a great pick. I love that she’s older, I love that she’s outspoken,” Rycroft said on Wednesday. “I think it’s going to be a different feel of The Bachelorette.”
Season 15 of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team premieres on CMT on Thursday, November 24, at 10 p.m. ET.
Listen to Here For the Right Reasons to get inside scoop about the Bachelor franchise and exclusive interviews from contestants