Bachelor in Paradise’s Jade Roper spoke out on Clayton Echard’s treatment of Susie Evans after watching the Fantasy Suite date episode.
Jade denied that Clayton was gaslighting Susie, but said that his actions were “triggering” and did not sit well with her.
What did Bachelor Nation alum Jade Roper have to say about Clayton Echard’s behavior toward Susie Evans?
Jade said that while she felt producers set Susie and Clayton up, Clayton’s behavior was truly inexcusable.
Jade revealed that she thinks producers knew how Susie felt beforehand, and intentionally placed her third in line for overnights.
“It was actually sort of triggering for me to watch, really,” Jade told Us Weekly. “Watching a woman try to have a mature conversation [and] express her feelings – and she was very much just sticking to how she was feeling and she was, you could tell, like, being very receptive to what he was saying – and then all of a sudden he, like, flipped the script on her and was like, ‘How could you do this to me?’”
“And just, like, watching her emotions and then the way he, like, stormed off and [was] like, ‘I’m done, it’s done.’ And the way he opened the car door aggressively … it did not sit with me well,” Jade said.
Does Jade think Clayton Echard was gaslighting Susie Evans like other Bachelor Nation fans?
Jade also hit on the fact that fans are criticizing Clayton for “gaslighting” Susie. Despite condemning The Bachelor’s actions, Jade doesn’t think that this is “an accurate interpretation.”
She feels that people throw that word around too loosely. However, she did reiterate the fact that Clayton behaved terribly, handled everything horribly, and that she felt just awful for Susie at that point.
While Clayton has since apologized for his actions and how he treated Susie, some viewers are still in an uproar. Clayton has taken ownership since watching the show back and did admit that his perspective on things wasn’t correct, but he couldn’t see that at the moment.
Jade Roper’s journey in The Bachelor franchise
Jade Roper was on Season 19 of The Bachelor with Chris Soules as the leading man. While she was eliminated from Chris’ season, she went on to Season 2 of Bachelor in Paradise, where she found the love of her life.
It was on Bachelor in Paradise that Jade met Tanner Tolbert, they immediately started a relationship, and got engaged on the island. The duo is still married today, with three children, Emerson, Brooks, and Easton.
How will this season end up for all three women and Clayton? Watch next week’s two-night event on Monday and Tuesday where viewers will hopefully find out all of the answers to their questions.
The Bachelor airs Monday at 8/7c on ABC.