Fact: There are several elephants in the room when it comes to season 16 of The Bachelorette.
Longtime host Chris Harrison has teased an “explosive” premiere unlike any other. And as Bachelor Nation fanatics already know, Tayshia Adams, 30, is expected to swoop in and replace Clare Crawley, 39, as the star at some point. When, why, and how? We don’t exactly know for sure.
But one thing’s clear: Clare and the lineup of men cast as her suitors will not be seen roaming about the Bachelor Mansion, Villa de la Vina, when it’s time to kick off the lovefest. Though production for The Bachelorette was initially scheduled to begin in March, the coronavirus pandemic seriously delayed filming to July, where the task of finding Clare the one was flipped entirely on its head.
So what’s the replacement for Villa de la Vina? This season was filmed at La Quinta Resort and Club, a Waldorf Astoria Resort located just outside the Coachella Valley in La Quinta, California. From the first few teasers we’ve seen, Bachelorette producers did an excellent job of selecting a new filming location that nearly replicates the mansion and lets the show maintain its glamorous and roomy DNA, even with plenty of COVID-19 safety precautions in place.
