Image Source: People.com, Sarah Scoop
Clayton Echard is having second thoughts about taking up the role of 26th The Bachelor.
Clayton Echard appeared on former Bachelor star Nick Viall’s podcast, ‘The Viall Files’ on Monday and got candid about singing to be the franchise’s 26th bachelor right after he appeared on Michelle Young’s The Bachelorette season.
Nick Viall asked Clayton Echard if he regrets signing the 26th season of The Bachelor, to which he said, "I think the first three weeks of the show airing, I definitely thought that because you just don't know what to expect going into it.” Clayton added that because he did not have much time between The Bachelorette and The Bachelor’s filming, he couldn’t reach out to former contestants to get a feel for how he should act or be on the show.
Clayton Echard got real about the negative response he received when his show aired and said he was surprised. He added, "I thought, 'This is going to be great. Everyone's going to come around, start seeing my personality,' and people weren't. It seemed like no matter what they showed, even when they showed my personality, showed me being goofy, people would still say, 'He has no personality.' It's like, what more do you want to see?"
The former football player added, "To me, I just wasn't ready for the magnitude of criticism I was going to face.” He also explained that he has developed the quality of blocking out the negativity from social media and added, "It doesn't matter at this point to me, because I'm happy with people I have in my life and that's ultimately what's pushing me forward."
Clayton Echard spoke to People in January and reflected upon his journey and revealed that he was cautiously optimistic about finding the one for him. He said at that time, "I just promised myself I would be transparent and not hold back. And I followed my heart. I promised myself I wouldn't fall in love with multiple women but I fell in love with three. At that point I accepted it but I realized I was going to have to stop using absolutes. I handled it to the best of my ability. It wasn't perfect! I learned a lot of lessons. And that's life."
Talking about Nick Viall who shared with People magazine about the selection of the new bachelor back in December said, "It's nothing against Clayton, he seemed like a nice enough fellow, but just looking at Michelle's top four, each of the top four has better storylines, more charisma. They have out-shined Clayton in every possible way. So I don't really get the choice. I hope Clayton proves us wrong and I'm very much rooting to watch this season and say to myself, which I have in the past, 'You know what, I didn't agree with this selection, but they got it right.' I'm rooting for that to happen, but as it stands right now, I don't get it."
Recently, a fan simply wrote on Clayton’s post, “Wear blue in your next photo if you were forced to keep Shanae against your will.” Obviously, Clayton did not respond to the comment but did post a picture the next day and a fan noticed, “YOUR SHORTS ARE BLUE,” to which he replied that is a correct observation. Shanae Ankney is one of the most controversial contestants on the show and the entire feud with costar Elizabeth Corrigan received a lot of backlashes. While Shanae claimed that she was being bullied, the audience believe that Shanae crossed a line when she mocked Elizabeth’s ADHD.
Clayton Echard’s decision to keep Shanae Ankney and let go of Elizabeth Corrigan shocked a lot of people and later after understanding that he made a mistake, Clayton apologized to Elizabeth publicly, “I would have sent Shanae home immediately for making fun of you for being neurodivergent, had I known. Overall, the experience for me watching hasn’t been fun, simply because I’m seeing all the damage that I caused. I really meant well, but my actions weren’t always the best as I now can see the repercussions from my decisions.”
Another costar Lyndsey Windham took a dig at Clayton’s apology and said, “As you can see, he said that if he would have known what was going on, he would have sent Shanae home immediately. However, lemme take you back to this night. After the Baywatch date, Clayton chose to spend our time asking me about the drama in the house and why Shanae felt so bullied in the mansion. And I explained to him, word for word, that I would never want anyone to feel bullied. However, when someone is mocking and making fun of someone’s mental disabilities, that’s crossing the line, and I don’t want to surround myself with people like that, so I’m not gonna go out of my way to be their best friend. At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason and no hard feelings, however, you knew and you kept her.”
Clayton said on The Viall Files about Lyndsey’s claim, “To set the record straight: I’m not lying. I do want to stress that, as I said in my post, I did not know that Shanae was mocking Elizabeth for having ADHD. I did not know that Elizabeth has ADHD until I watched the show.” He further clarified that Lyndsey might have brought her concerns during the group date but he does not recall having the conversation she mentioned. “It just didn’t resonate and I didn’t recognize the severity of the situation at the time. I had to go off of what I knew and what was being told to me, which truthfully, wasn’t as much as what people are seeing now”, he admitted.
On Monday’s episode of The Bachelor, Clayton Echard gave the rose to Genevieve Parisi, and Shanae Ankney was sent home.
A lot of drama for Clayton Echard!
