Charismatic, sweet, wholesome, Clayton Echard may not be that innocent, boy-next-door everyone thought he was, nor was he a lot of peoples’ first choice for this role.
The new Bachelor, who now has two episodes on air, seems to have some dirty laundry from his dating past airing out via social media lately. What does Clayton have to say about it?
The 28-year-old Bachelor, is honest when he speaks on Bachelor Happy Hour, hosted by Bachelor alums, Becca Kufrin and Serena Pitt, as he reflects on his past dating history.
What is Clayton Echard’s dating history?
He disclosed to them and Us Weekly, “As far as addressing what I’ve seen online, yeah, I’ve seen a lot of these TikToks that have come up as of lately regarding my past, you know, or the relationships that I had in the past.”
Speaking of those TikToks, particularly the one where the guy claimed he walked in on Clayton with his girlfriend, Clayton went on to say, “Listen, here’s the thing, I never claimed to be some saint, per se, or celibate for the last six years of my single life. Like, I was single and I enjoyed that singleness.”
He then states, “There was a period of my life where, yeah, I wasn’t looking for anything serious, and I was just having fun and enjoying that aspect of [dating]. It is what it is.”
It is what it is. Many people have used that line once, twice, or hundreds of times. So why can’t fans let this go? Should Clayton be judged and criticized because he was single and having fun, just because he’s in the spotlight now?
Everyone has something in his/her past that might be a regret, so should Clayton be bashed for making mistakes in his past just because he is in the public eye now?
Clayton defends his past relationship history, saying it was a phase
He reiterates this when saying, “I think we all went through this [phase] – and maybe some people more than others – but…yeah, I went out and dated and had my fun.”
However, he said that when he turned twenty-eight, something in him changed. He realized he no longer wanted to live this type of life of “loosely dating”, instead, he wants to settle down and find someone to share his life with.
Insert The Bachelorette, which is where he met Michelle Young and developed strong feelings for her. At this time, it seems Clayton decided that love was truly something he wanted.
After being eliminated from Michelle’s season, fans were actually quite shocked to hear and see that Clayton had been named the new Bachelor.
Can Clayton find his one true love? Only time will tell. Oh, and just so you know…Clayton did assert that the aforementioned TikTok that has gone viral about him and another guy’s girlfriend was “absolutely ridiculous and not factual.” So there’s that.
The Bachelor returns Monday, January 24, 2022, at 8/7c on ABC.