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‘Bachelorette’ Clare Crawley opens up about past abusive relationship

As Clare Crawley readies to hand out the roses as the next “Bachelorette,” she’s also looking back on how she became the woman she is today. The 39-year-old reality star discussed the troubles of her past on Tuesday’s episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, recalling her struggles with poverty and her experience of being …

As Clare Crawley readies to hand out the roses as the next “Bachelorette,” she’s also looking back on how she became the woman she is today.

The 39-year-old reality star discussed the troubles of her past on Tuesday’s episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, recalling her struggles with poverty and her experience of being in an abusive relationship prior to joining “The Bachelor” in 2014.

“I had just gone through a really, really abusive relationship going into Juan Pablo’s season,” Crawley shared.

Crawley didn’t give any details about the relationship, which she had only told select loved ones about, but said it happened at a stressful time when she didn’t have a home.

“At one point, I was living in my car for three months, and I barely had a job making minimum wage being a hairstylist’s assistant when I first started doing hair,” she said. “I was in an abusive relationship, and I just had lost my dad, too, so I was at, I would feel like the lowest of lows.”

She also said that when she infamously told off Juan Pablo Galvis during the Season 18 finale after he made a lewd comment, she could hear herself “trying to be strong” in that moment.

“I hear it in my voice the whole time of trying to be strong, trying to be empowered, but then at the very end, having enough in me to be like, ‘You know what? No, that’s not okay. You don’t treat somebody like that, you don’t disrespect somebody like that.’ I hadn’t fully convinced myself of that yet, and so it took me time right after that to sit and process and go, ‘What just happened, what do I need to work on, and why did that shake me?’ And I’m glad it shook me,” Crawley explained.

Despite past hardships, the California native hopes her story resonates with viewers.

“There’s a reason why we are where we’re at in our lives, and I want so bad for other women that are waiting and have waited to know that their self-worth comes first more than anything,” Crawley said.

As for what Crawley is looking for in a suitor, she’s hopeful he will stand with her in the face of adversity.

“I want the man of my dreams to see the worst of me, to know the worst of me,” she said. “To maybe see, it’s not always easy and confident and strong and empowered. There’s a lot that I went through. I want them to know the hard, ugly, embarrassing struggles of my life to appreciate the woman that I am today.”

Crawley, the oldest “Bachelorette” in franchise history, is slated to begin her journey next month. Her season was originally halted in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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