Clare's 'Bachelorette' journey came to an early close on Thursday night.
Clare Crawley is speaking out about her buzzed-about ending on The Bachelorette. The 39-year-old hairstylist, who got engaged to contestant Dale Moss on Thursday's episode of the ABC dating show, took to social media to celebrate her happy ending.
Dale's proposal came less than two weeks after he and Clare met on The Bachelorette; their connection was undeniable, even though they didn't have their first one-on-one date until the day before Dale got down on one knee.
Clare -- who debuted her massive engagement ring while out and about in Sacramento this week -- celebrated her love story on Instagram. "It’s official!! Love wins!!!! 💍❤️!!! I love you @dalemoss13 !!!!" she captioned a slideshow of pics from Dale's proposal.
Dale and Clare then went on Instagram Live, reading fans' comments. "We're going to enjoy this moment. We've been waiting a long time," Dale said, before encouraging Clare to show off her "big AF" engagement ring.
"We've waited three months to share this with you guys," Clare said of their engagement news. "P.S. stay tuned you guys, because we have done... so many TikToks [from the time we've been together]."
Clare also gave a shout-out to her former fiance, Benoit Beausejour-Savard, for sending her a sweet message, and thanked other fans for their support.
"For some reason... there has been some crazy energy going on with people that just are... the amount of hate, you guys, is insane," she said. "I'm just so happy to share this with you guys. You guys have been along on this ride for so long."
She also assured fans that the second band on her ring finger doesn't mean she and Dale are married. It's the band she gave to herself, that she "always wears." Dale has been spending the last week with Clare in Sacramento, and next week, she's going to go see his family in South Dakota.
ET learned in August that Clare's journey as the Bachelorette came to a close roughly two weeks into filming, after she fell for one of her men. She was replaced by Tayshia Adams.
While Clare's early ending was unprecedented, in an interview with ET last week, host Chris Harrison reminded fans that Clare did accomplish her goal to find love -- and did it in "record time."
"I definitely am not disappointed in Clare," he said. "I'm not mad at Clare, none of this is a bad thing. If Clare's falling for somebody, and that's where this goes, then great... That should be a good thing. There shouldn't be a negative to this."
Even before Clare's season premiered, she couldn't hide her "electric" connection with Dale.
"It was one of those intangible, goosebumps all over the body [things]. Like, what just happened?" Clare told ET of her and Dale's first meeting. "For me, being a confident woman, I honestly stood there all night and I was like, 'Great to meet you, I'm excited,' like, each guy, I was so into, I was so happy to meet them, and then with Dale, I felt like I was just a blubbering mess...I was like, 'What did I just say? Did it sound OK? What just happened?' For me to be caught off guard and for me to be at a loss for words -- I think that definitely says a lot."
Clare wouldn't reveal at the time if she was engaged, simply sharing, "I'm very happy."
The Bachelorette airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. See more in the video below.
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