Clayton Echard has been met with more critique than love ever since it was announced that he’d be the next Bachelor.
The criticism continued during The Bachelor Season 26 premiere when Clayton made a questionable decision early in the episode.
Clayton caught wind of the jokes and flak he received over the first rose he attempted to hand out and had a response of his own.
Clayton Echard confuses viewers by offering Salley Carson a rose
Clayton Echard met droves of women during his first night as the Bachelor, but his encounter with one woman occurred before the cocktail party even had a chance to begin.
Despite recently being engaged, Salley Carson came onto The Bachelor, seemingly thinking she might be ready to get back into the dating game. Salley’s breakup with her ex-fiance was still so raw and fresh that their wedding registry is still available online.
With filming of The Bachelor falling on what would’ve been Salley’s wedding date, she was forced to realize that she might not be ready to strike up a whole new relationship just yet. Salley decided to talk with Clayton in his hotel room ahead of opening night. She essentially expressed how torn she felt being with Clayton while still mourning the breakup from her recent serious relationship.
Clayton chose to offer her his first rose to get Salley to stay and feel more at ease. Salley appreciated the gesture, but after taking some time away, she ultimately decided to go home and remove herself from the process.
Clayton Echard wants fans to ‘let him live’
Many The Bachelor viewers felt it was a strange and oblivious choice for Clayton to offer Salley a rose when she clearly was not ready to embark on this journey with him and was trying to give an exit speech.
One tweet pointed out Clayton’s confusing decision by writing, “Salley: hey I know I’m a complete stranger but I was supposed to get married yesterday and I don’t want to be here. Clayton: will you accept this rose.”
Clayton found humor in the tweet and responded by writing, “Let me live” with a laughing emoji.
Fortunately, Clayton seems to know how to take the jabs and jokes thrown his way in stride, as was proved when he read mean tweets about himself during the most recent Men Tell All.
What do you think of Clayton offering Salley a rose, and do you think we’ve seen the last of Salley on this season of The Bachelor?
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.