The Bachelor is back and Season 26 lead Clayton Echard is making sure to take Bachelor Nation on a wild ride.
The 28-year-old former football player opened up on his upcoming debut in the title role and admits he did some things ‘wrong’.
“So what I did and every moment while I was there was what I thought was right,” the Missouri native told Us Weekly. “Does that mean it was right? Probably not, no.”
Clayton Echard opens up about The Bachelor season regrets
The trailer for Echard’s season of The Bachelor debuted following Michelle Young’s After the Final Rose special and it promised viewers some juicy storylines.
Despite ABC promising a season filled with drama, Clayton says he has no regrets about his actions as the upcoming lead.
“I can’t say that I have any regrets because if I would’ve done things differently, would it have been my 100 percent authentic journey? And I think the answer to that’s no,” Clayton admitted. “I definitely was not perfect. I did some things wrong, but I did everything under my volition and what I thought was best.”
In the preview, Clayton is shown committing the franchise faux pas of telling three women he’s in love with them, something that will clearly put him in hot water with Bachelor Nation.
While Clayton’s ready to watch his journey back, he’s also ready to see the things he wasn’t around for.
“I wasn’t there 24/7 around all the women, so I’m gonna see things for the first time myself,” he later explained in the interview. “I’m excited to see what that looks like. Obviously, I heard a lot of the drama that I wasn’t present for, but now I’m like, ‘OK, maybe I’ll catch somebody that told me a story that maybe doesn’t exactly match up with what I see.’”
Clayton Echard asks viewers to give him “a shot”
If you were like most of Bachelor Nation, you questioned what it was about Clayton on Michelle Young’s season of The Bachelorette that led producers to award him the title role.
While most fans disagreed with the mean tweets segment directed at Clayton on AFR, the sentiment for viewers’ disappointment came not from hating Clayton but simply feeling there were better choices who could’ve been selected.
Giving his take to the criticism, Clayton responded, “I don’t know all the reasons why I was chosen, but I can say that I think the producers saw me as someone who really was wanting to find love and so they’re like, you know, ‘This is somebody that, like, we believe in that’s here to take this seriously.”
“Everybody has a lot of questions, right? And rightfully so. I’ve read everything online, so I know what’s being said,” he continued. “People saying, ‘Oh, we don’t know his personality, so why did he get picked?’ I will say this, like, I will get a little bit more airtime — I think it’s safe to say — on my side of things here, so my personality will come out. And I think people see it for what it is and I’m excited.”
Regardless of the “battle scars” he gained during the experience, Clayton explained he stayed true to himself and solely asked Bachelor Nation to give him a shot.
Will you be tuning into Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor? Let us know in the comments.
The Bachelor premieres Monday, January 3rd at 8/7c on ABC.