Not all Bachelor Nation friendships are created equally. Sarah Hamrick accused Rachel Recchia and Teddi Wright of misleading Clayton Echard about her intentions during season 26 of The Bachelor.
“I definitely feel betrayed by them. It’s hurtful because throughout our entire time on this season, I was a sounding board for them. They shared good days with me. They shared bad days with me, and they shared tears, laughter,” the 23-year-old contestant exclusively told Us Weekly at the Women Tell All. “They shared intimate details about their conversations with him as well. Things like, you know, Teddi said, ‘Oh, he’s already talking about meeting my family.’ Rachel’s saying, ‘Oh we already talked about a hometown.’ And at this point, I had not had those conversations, but did I hold that against them? No. Did I come to him about that and say, ‘How dare these women say this to me and make me insecure?’ No, I didn’t say that because the time is already so limited. Why would I spend it, one, being down on myself, but two, mixing my relationship with other people’s relationships, especially those people that are my best friends? Because we understood at that point that at least for me, I was able to separate my relationship from my friendships and I was able to be there for my friends.”
Sarah claimed she wasn’t given the “same treatment and respect” from Teddi and Rachel, both 26.
“I was able to hold them when they were crying and talk them off a ledge when they wanted to leave. I was able to celebrate with them when they were happy about their dates,” she said. “And I think what was the most hurtful is that even when it was brought to my attention that they felt insecure because of my relationship, I came to them specifically and I said, ‘I take accountability for this. I apologize for this. And I want to move forward.’ They accepted that apology. We agreed — all three of us, because we had all been doing it — we all agreed to not share intimate details anymore and moving forward, we didn’t.”
The former pageant queen added that she “did not speak to anyone” in Vienna, which is where she was sent packing after Clayton concluded Sarah misled the other women about their relationship.
“We were at the point where we had our own rooms. I wasn’t even interacting with people. I was eating alone. I was traveling alone. I was completely ostracized,” she continued. “And for them to then again bring it up — but also only bring it up to Clayton and not me — was the ultimate betrayal. And that’s when it felt like, ‘OK, you guys aren’t actually insecure because of the things that I’m saying, you just see this as an easy way to get me out of the house and boost yourself forward.’”
When it came to saying goodbye to the 28-year-old Missouri native, Sarah told Us that she “felt like he was playing a game” at the end.
“We had been through so much that felt genuine. And what I still would like to believe is genuine,” Sarah told Us, noting that things changed for her at their second one-on-one date when Clayton confronted her about Mara Agrait’s claims about her being ready for marriage during the night portion. “[We] did spend the entire day, you know, laughing, having fun. We were zip-lining in Croatia, we’re having these deep developmental conversations about kids, family, etc. And for him to be harboring this accusation that he knew he was going to present me with that night was not only blindsiding but really tainted that entire date and really our entire relationship because it felt like he hid something from me.”
Sarah now feels Clayton was being “disingenuous” during the day portion.
“It made it feel like he was just doing it kind of for the show. It made it feel like he didn’t really care whether or not there was any validity behind that accusation. He just knew he had to do it at the night portion for the show, he was going to get through the day date. And that was that,” she said. “So it just felt like, you know, if he had have really cared about me, if he had have really had a deep relationship, he would’ve made sure that he brought that concern to me immediately, and that’s why I felt like a game because it felt like he was just playing the cards that he needed to and saying the things that he needed to in the moment. And I feel like I got subjected to that.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Tuesday, March 8, at 8 p.m. ET.
Reporting by Hannah Kahn
