Clayton Echard, the current Bachelor, is trying to navigate through a sticky and tough situation right now with fans, social media, and Bachelor Nation. He has been criticized and thrown to the wolves throughout the season, but particularly these past few days after Tuesday night’s episode aired.
After Clayton told all three women he loved them, and had slept with two of the women, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, Susie had an ultimatum for him that he had never seen coming. This then led to a heated discussion where Susie was sent home, and viewers accused Clayton of gaslighting her.
While Clayton has had a tough road, as his own dad told him, he has had to own up to his decisions and choices because it has been no one else’s fault but his own.
What did Clayton Echard have to say about choosing his own order of overnight dates?
While on the Off the Vine podcast with Kaitlyn Bristowe, Clayton was asked a series of questions, but one that Kaitlyn asked was if Clayton got to choose the order of his fantasy suite dates.
Clayton stated back, “The answer is no, I didn’t [pick the order], but I don’t know how to answer that question…They came in, and they said, ‘We think you should do this way,’ and they convinced me … They’re like, ‘You need to keep your other options open, you need to keep everything open, so don’t close off. Because if Susie goes first, we’re afraid you’re gonna close off.’ So I said, ‘OK.’ … I did have a say in it at the end of it all.”
When it came to fantasy suites and being intimate with the women, Clayton was adamant that Susie should have told him to explore all of his options. In fact, Clayton admitted that all three women had told him that.
He assumed when they all said to “explore the other relationships fully,” that they meant what he did. However, he said he should have asked more questions, which was one of his biggest mistakes.
What else did Clayton have to say about Susie and the ending of his season?
As far as gaslighting Susie, Clayton has come to his own defense, saying there was no way he did that and that he would never do that to someone.
Clayton also revealed that no one has guessed the ending of his season correctly that he’s seen or heard. He said that he has been online a lot, too, but “no one was even close to correctly pinning what happened.”
So did Clayton know going into fantasy suites that Susie was the one, by what he said on the podcast? Did producers already know he was leaning toward Susie at the end? Did they put her last because they knew her feelings? Or did they put her last to create more drama?
To hear the whole Off the Vine podcast episode with Clayton and Kaitlyn, click here. Fans will hopefully find out the answers to all questions next week as The Bachelor airs on both Monday and Tuesday nights for the two-part season finale.
The Bachelor airs Monday at 8/7c on ABC.