Clare Crawley Shades ‘Bachelorette’ Contestant Matt James, But Fans Are Defending Him

Clare Crawley appears to have an issue with one of her Bachelorette contestants, and the season hasn’t even started yet.

The 39-year-old hairstylist took to Twitter on Saturday (April 25) where she threw some shade at Matt James, who will be competing for her heart in the upcoming season, which has been postponed because of the health crisis.

“If you are doing interviews and creating Cameo accounts before you are even on my season… you are in it for the wrong reasons… #dontwasteyourtime,” Clare tweeted. Even though she didn’t call out Matt, 28, by name, fans were able to figure out who she was shading.

If you didn’t know, Matt is really good friends with Tyler Cameron, who starred on Hannah Brown‘s season of The Bachelorette and they’ve been quarantining together in Florida.

Earlier this week, Matt did an interview to promote a Fit-A-Thon live stream event that raised money for Operation Food Fight, which is providing meals for healthcare workers during the pandemic.

After Clare‘s tweet, fans responded back defending Matt.

“Simmer down,” one fan commented on Clare’s tweet. “He already has a fan base and uses his platform to promote his charity [ABC Food Tours]. Some people already have a life before the show, which he does.”

“Sounds like your [sic] scolding your son,” another wrote, while one fan suggested that “Matt is the only reason a lot of people care about your season.”

Despite the fan tweets, Clare didn’t hold back and sent out another tweet writing, “Respect the opportunity you’ve been given. Respect the rules. Respect me.”

This, once again, didn’t go over well with fans and they called out Clare again.

“These are unprecedented times and [Hannah, Tyler] and the whole quarantine Crew including Matt have been giving us love, laughter and HOPE!” another responded to her second tweet. “Perhaps ABC should recast your entire group of men. You are obviously following them on social media.”

Find out what Matt James recently said about meeting Clare Crawley soon here.