Why was Clayton Echard so disappointed with his Bachelor season?
by Ana Walia | Tue, 12 Jul 2022 20:59:53 GMT
Clayton Echard has some thoughts to share about his season of The Bachelor. Image Source: Cinemablend

Clayton Echard has some thoughts to share about his season of The Bachelor.

Former Bachelor Clayton Echard spoke to The Virginian Pilot and shared that he was disgusted and felt embarrassed about his season of The Bachelor. He appeared on the 26th season of The Bachelor, and the season is now known as one of the most turbulent seasons in the history of The Bachelor. The former Bachelor got candid about his mental health journey since the finale premiered in March.

Clayton said that watching his season back, he was embarrassed and disgusted to witness some of his actions and the way he was portrayed on-screen and added that he had to live with the fact that his narrative is what was shown to the audience and it was hard for him because that is not who he is. He further said that he does not feel that what he was on the show is who he truly is, but at the end of the day, he did those things and became that person. He added that he was shocked to know that the drama became a priority over their love story. 

On Tuesday’s episode of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s "Off the Vine" podcast, the Bachelor spoke about the references to his missteps that were made on the premiere of The Bachelorette season 19, as the men assured Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia that they would never be like Clayton Echard like being in love with three women at the same time and one of them brought a choir of children to harmonize a "Clayton Sucks" tune. Clayton Echard said in a cryptic tweet it’s not personal, it’s business but later added during the podcast that he didn’t really react to all of it while watching the show but just laughed but shared that he thinks that it should not have been shown because it seems like cyberbullying or an attack or something that is going to lead to cyberbullying.

View this post on Instagram

According to The Virginian Pilot, Clayton Echard is seeking some peace, especially after the hate mail and death threats he has received following the season’s conclusion and shared that he has been seeing a therapist and has now turned his attention toward mental health advocacy. Clayton said that the hate that he got was a tough one for him to deal with and it was not like there were a few messages here and there but thousands of messages that kept coming in a very short period and it sort of became very overwhelming for him.

After things went haywire for Clayton Echard, he sought professional help and has now started a national speaking tour for mental health advocacy and is looking forward to targeting students in middle school and high school, ages when, according to surveys, children are easily influenced and often unable to find words to speak about how they are struggling with things. Clayton Echard said that he wants to be able to be a light for the younger generation and tell them he was there too, but he was able to overcome it and so can they.

At the season finale of The Bachelor 26, Clayton Echard ended up keeping the rose for his now girlfriend, Susie Evans, who before the finale decided to leave the show after she learned that Clayton Echard got intimate with Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia too during the Fantasy Suites, and then Clayton and Susie got into a heated argument. But in the end, Clayton Echard realised that it was Susie Evans all along and did not give the rose to any of the last two finalists i.e., Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia. Clayton and Susie decided to give one another a chance after a lot of talking and understanding each other post the finale, and they rekindled their romance and went public at the After the Final rose episode and are very happy. Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia were later announced as the co-leads for season 19 of The Bachelorette.

This is not the first time Clayton Echard has expressed his disappointment when it comes to his season as he has previously mentioned that it's hard for him to watch the season due to some of the things that he unintentionally did on the show which he understands might look real bad to the audience. He had expressed that he never had the intention of hurting anyone who was on the show and apologized to the ones who thought that he ignored them or acted in a way to hurt them. 

View this post on Instagram

After season 19 of The Bachelorette premiered and the audience witnessed some remarks and insults made by the contestants towards Clayton Echard, Susie Evans came in support of her man, and during Kaitlyn Bristowe’s "Off the Vine" podcast episode, she said that Clayton handled the insults and remarks better overall than she did because she was annoyed by the things that were shown, insisting that he did not deserve it as it might open the floodgates to all the hate that had been pushed away down the line.

"The Bachelorette" Season 19 airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

RELATED ARTICLES