Heating up! After Clare Crawley and Blake Monar sparked dating rumors earlier this month, their connection has quickly grown into something special.
“Their friendship has blossomed into something really special, and she’s letting it roll organically,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly of the 40-year-old hairstylist’s bond with the 31-year-old former baseball player. “Things are progressing between Clare and Blake since reuniting earlier this year. Even though they live in different states, they talk daily.”
The insider adds that Monar, who first met the California native during season 16 of The Bachelorette, has already introduced her to his family and they “bonded quickly.”
“It has been evident to everyone around them how much they bring out the best in each other,” the source notes. “It is clear to friends that Clare is the happiest she’s ever been. … She’s attracted to him in so many ways, especially because he values the right things in life. And they have more in common than just having successful careers in the same industry.”
The Bachelor Winter Games alum first sparked dating speculation with the Arizona native after they were spotted together earlier this month.
“Went for business, left with the most unexpected remarkable memories! Indy, you were truly beautiful and exactly what my soul needed,” Crawley captioned a social media video from her trip to Indiana on January 9. In the clip, she was seen shopping and bowling with the StatumStyle founder.
Monar, for his part, replied: “How’s walking on black ice with a grown man hanging on your back @clarecrawley?”
The twosome continued to fuel rumors after they were spotted hanging out earlier in January.
“Worlds worse carpool karaoke [sic] duo @clarecrawley,” he shared via Instagram Story on Thursday, January 27, alongside a clip of the duo belting We Three’s “Half Hearted” in the car.
Crawley served as the season 16 lead of The Bachelorette, which began airing in October 2020. While Monar was eliminated during the second week, she eventually got engaged to Dale Moss during a November 2020 episode. After leaving the show together, their relationship quickly fizzled by January 2021. She and the 33-year-old former football player eventually reconciled before calling it quits for good in September 2021.
“I always feel like I do not want to have regrets and I don’t even know — to be honest — if I would have done things differently because I was doing the best I could at the time with the information that I had,” the former Bachelorette opened up about their split during an October 2021 appearance on the “Whine Down” podcast. “And if my biggest regret is trusting the process, trusting a man’s words and who he showed me he was, I don’t think that that’s a regret. I trusted somebody, I believed somebody that they were who that they said they were [and] that they would hold up to the promises that they make when they get down on one knee.”
With reporting by Diana Cooper