Former 'Bachelor' winner Catherine Lowe says she believes Clare Crawley and Dale Moss didn't communicate before 'The Bachelorette'

• Catherine Lowe told Insider that she supports Clare Crawley's decision to leave "The Bachelorette" early after finding love at first sight.
• "Clare knows what she wants, she's not trying to waste no time," Lowe said. "She's not trying to play games. Clare did what she wanted and more power to her."
• And Lowe said she doesn't believe that Crawley and Dale Moss communicated with each other before filming began on "The Bachelorette" as many fans suspected.
• The mother of three also revealed that it took eight weeks before she knew she was in love with Sean Lowe on his season of "The Bachelor."

"The Bachelor" franchise is no stranger to wild love stories, sparking successful marriages — and some scandalous last-minute switcheroos — over the span of its 40 seasons.

But even many of the series' biggest fans were shocked when "Bachelorette" star Clare Crawley ended her season after just two weeks to get engaged to Dale Moss.

Many still believe that the couple's story was too good to be true — that it was indeed love at first sight and that they must have communicated before filming began. But Catherine Lowe has Crawley's back.

"Clare knows what she wants, she's not trying to waste no time," Lowe told Insider while promoting Ivory's Acts of Gentle Kindness Initiative. "She's not trying to play games. Clare did what she wanted and more power to her."

The newly-engaged couple sat down with host Chris Harrison during the most recent episode of "The Bachelorette," and Crawley said she had been hurt by accusations that she and Moss secretly talked before filming started.

"I can wholeheartedly attest to this on my dad's grave: There was never any ounce of contact, communication, through friends, through outlets, through phone numbers, through any sort of source of anything," she said.

"Here is something that I finally found that makes me so incredibly happy like to my core," Crawley continued. "To finally feel this type of love that I have been craving and wanting, I just wish people could be happy for us."

Lowe says unlike Crawley, it took her eight weeks to fall in love with her now-husband, Sean Lowe

Lowe admitted that she and Sean Lowe — who starred in "The Bachelor" back in 2013 — took a little longer to fall in love during filming than Crawley and Moss.

"It took us probably eight weeks," she revealed. "It was like one week before the proposal and I think our show is nine weeks of filming."

But Lowe said it was worth noting that due to the pandemic, Crawley and Moss were working under very different circumstances.

"I think they're honest in saying that they didn't communicate before, but they also had this weird, unprecedented time to kind of look each other up," Lowe said. "She got to do research on the contestants for four months, so she saw what he was doing on a normal basis, which was something that was very attractive to her."

"So when she saw him in person and it was the exact same person that she had been looking at, I think that's super fair to say that you can fall in love and know that that's your person. I think it's really cool to watch."

But as Lowe said, Crawley admitted that being able to see Moss' Instagram account beforehand did spark some early attraction.

"I followed a lot of guys on the down low to see how they spent their time and what they were doing," the now former Bachelorette told Harrison. "Dale was the one that was being a strong man, but opening up and being vulnerable."

"I understand that it was fast-paced, but this is the first time a 39-year-old woman has sat up here and been chosen to find the man of her dreams," Crawley added. "I know exactly what I'm looking for and exactly what I want. I've done nothing but respect this entire process and I cannot reiterate that more. Whether it took one day or 10 days, two weeks or two years, this man makes me happy."

Lowe said she has loved watching Crawley change up the status quo on 'The Bachelorette'

Despite how fans have reacted, Lowe said it's empowering to see a woman go after what she wants — even if it means forging your own path.

"It's been a really cool thing to know that, hey, if you want something, get it," Lowe said. "You don't have to play by the rules as long as it doesn't hurt anybody."

"I think it was fine with the guys because the only person she had another connection with was Jason," she added, referring to contestant Jason Foster, who quit the show after Crawley left early.

Lowe said she's already been having a blast watching Tayshia Adams, who replaced Crawley, take over as "The Bachelorette." She's even picked Brendan Morais as the frontrunner.

"Brendan is so cute," she said. "I know he's the first one-on-one and we see more of him than we have of most of the other guys, but they're so cute together. So I'm going to say Brendan for now."

"He's so nice and even Sean likes him," she added with a laugh, referencing her husband. "Obviously there's so many other guys to see, but he's somebody I'm so excited for. He's so cute!"

• Read more:
• Chris Harrison wants to see a 'Bachelorette' star get down on one knee and propose
• Chris Harrison knew Clare Crawley's strip dodgeball date would 'stir up debate,' but believes Yosef Aborady 'owes her an apology'
• Clare Crawley and Dale Moss are engaged — here's every couple from 'The Bachelor' universe that's still together
• 'Bachelor' host Chris Harrison said if he gets married again, you likely won't see his wedding on television