Clayton Echard & Susie Evans - Bachelor 26 - Discussion

As a person who didn't watch a minute of this season and only heard this and that about Clayton the bachelor, I thoroughly enjoyed Susie on Nick's podcast. I was listening completely unbiased with not many expectations (which are generally dumbed down when it comes to this franchise) -- I think she's very likeable and seems to have a good head on her shoulders. I hope this will bring a lot of positive impact on Clayton's growth and maturity and their relationship overall.

I saw a lot of cruel comments on social media thrown so lightly as if words didn't mean anything; I wish people would just mind their own business. There were far 'cleaner', flawless couples coming out of this franchise that didn't make it. Whatever mess he made, it's theirs to clean. all imo

I have been through a different but analogous situation when something I really really wanted appeared to no longer be an option. I remember being devastated, but, as one whose self-esteem is not great, I shut down pretty quick, feeling I had no control, nor even right to hope for my preferred outcome, and that what I wanted was not meant to be, so I needed to accept it. I was questioned about how much I had wanted it in the first place by those around me. But in that moment, I felt powerless, and that the more mature thing was to accept and move on. That was how I saw how Clayton reacted to Susie's leaving.... Which was not, in my opinion, much different from how Katie recalibrated when Greg left (and yes, I realize Greg wasn't viewed as positively as Gabby and Rachel...). I totally wish Clayton had handled fantasy suites differently, but I don't believe he was all that different from many prior leads - he was just not savvy enough to keep his declarations private. It seemed to me that he thought he owed the girls to be "transparent." Yes, he didn't share that he loved susie most - but where would that have gotten him? He seemed to want to see all relationships through to the end, whatever that was meant to be. Was it likely that he would come to love one of the last two more? No. But we have seen several leads have epiphanies after "the one" seemed to have gotten away.... How real those epiphanies were was often debated at the time. Saying goodbye to both of them together was, in hindsight, probably not the most considerate, but I could also see how he might have thought it would have been a showing of his "transparency" that both heard the same story, so they didnt have to wonder how they ranked relative to one another.

I guess I could've guilty of giving him too much credit, or of making excuses. But I believe Susie that she asked him allllll the tough questions when they got back, and if she had doubts about his character she's shown she is totally capable of walking away, which, thus far, she has not. So time will tell. All jmo.

I couldn't even watch the full episode because of how emotionally manipulative Clayton behaved. Yes, this is edited and producers prod but the way he spoke to all of the women during times of conflict and his actions were inexcusable. It technically boarders on abuse, IMO. With counseling he can change but these are the guys that slowly widdle away at their partners self-esteem and confidence with their manipulation tactics all while projecting a friendly and loving exterior personality.

I applaud Gabby's reaction to the whole situation. She gets it. All of the women deserve better, but I hope Susie takes the relationship slowly and is surrounded by good people that will keep an eye out for her. People can change so I hope Clayton works on his issues, but I wouldn't want my daughter to be the one working through this with him. IMO

‘The Bachelor’: Clayton Echard and Susie Evans Reveal Biggest Regret, Intimacy Discussions and “Complicated” Path https://t.co/KnfXZmDVDv

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 17, 2022

@Billysmom

Susie Evans talks about leaving @ClaytonEchard in Iceland during their time on @BachelorABC. #TheBachelor #BachelorNation #Bachelor #ClaytonEchard pic.twitter.com/w60uVZvfWF

— On The Red Carpet (@OnTheRedCarpet) March 17, 2022

.@ClaytonEchard got so excited the first time Susie Evans said "I Love You."@BachelorABC #TheBachelor #BachelorNation #Bachelor #ClaytonEchard #SusieEvans pic.twitter.com/2P6vVClujo

— On The Red Carpet (@OnTheRedCarpet) March 17, 2022

What bothers @ClaytonEchard about Susie Evans? Her water bottles? LOL!@BachelorABC #TheBachelor #BachelorNation #Bachelor #ClaytonEchard #SusieEvans pic.twitter.com/5Vx22QTkuP

— On The Red Carpet (@OnTheRedCarpet) March 17, 2022

@bluwavz can you please post the gma one

@emiusacska

Loved seeing Andrew Firestone in the video just above!

bluwavz wrote:

‘The Bachelor’: Clayton Echard and Susie Evans Reveal Biggest Regret, Intimacy Discussions and “Complicated” Path https://t.co/KnfXZmDVDv

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 17, 2022

 

I haven't listened to the ones posted after this but holy cow, this is a great interview. As I've said before I'm not a fan of having sex in the FS with multiple people, however like others have said, this isn't the first time. No one forced Andi Dorfman to have sex in the FS with Nick Viall. His life was nothing but miserable for a long time for the backlash he got. The only difference is many don't admit it. jmo's. Rachel questioning Clayton for justifying the FS by saying ILY reminded me of Nick asking Andi Dorfman why did she have sex with him. Rachel did not look comfortable asking that question. Plenty of leads did not say ILY and still had sex in the FS, so that makes no sense to me.

The other thing I thought is when Clayton had his meltdown with Susie, what made him think she was only there for getting the next lead as the ette? I believe that's what he was probably told. After begging her to forgive him, and the answer was no, that's where his mind went. imo.

There's certainly things they both would have done differently but for me, Susie is so supportive and that's nice to see. She has stated several times they discussed in detail and she got her answers. By him moving to her, shows commitment and willingness to start a new life together.

You’re not the first person to sleep with multiple people during the fantasy suites. Did you feel that you received too much criticism, or that perhaps the show should reconsider how it handles the overnight dates? Is three people too many to invite to the fantasy suites?

Echard: I won’t really comment on what the show does because, honestly, I don’t think I’m in a place to comment on that. Listen, that show’s been around for, what — 20-plus years? So I think they have a good idea of what they are looking for when creating the show. Beyond that, the whole thing has been challenging for me just to watch back, and I realized the decisions that I had made at the time, I was doing everything to the best of my ability to navigate it. But as we’ve all seen, I didn’t always, I guess, make the right decisions.

And this. Susie is very well spoken and more mature than I expected. It's nice that Susie Gabby and Rachel have always been supportive of each other and even after filming. Susie said she was never comfortable with the camera around so that explains to me why I didn't see a strong connection other than the red dress date. He wasn't my fav during the season, and we all know producer manipulation, but how many leads stood their ground? I remember Kaitlyn quoted as saying she did not want Nick to get down on one knee, but she had to fight her battles and that's one she lost. So imo it's not that easy to just say I'm not doing it. jmo's. In Clayton's case it is my opinion they used his fragile state of mind, and lack of experience with the bad guys of this show.

Do each of you have a biggest regret after watching it back?

Susie Evans: There’s a lot of things I could have done differently, but I would have probably found a way to be more up-front about my expectations going into the fantasy-suite week and just utilize whatever time I had at any previous point to just make those expectations more clear. That would have saved myself, Clayton and all of the other women involved a lot of heartache.