Defending him. Elizabeth Corrigan spoke out after Clayton Echard received criticism for sending her home on The Bachelor amid drama with fellow season 26 contestant Shanae Ankney.
“It’s come to my attention that some of you are sending @claytonechard hate messages,” the real estate advisor, 32, wrote via her Instagram Story on Tuesday, February 1. “I realize you want to support me and I appreciate that. But please — we are here to rise above not stoop to. Redirect that anger as love and support for the other girls.”
Elizabeth even stood up for Shanae, 29, in a follow-up post, noting, “Everyone, EVERYONE’S mental health matters. Yes, even Shanae’s.”
However, it seems the costars have not made up as the Colorado native later revealed in a Q&A that she has not spoken to Shanae since the show. Still, she said she is “happy” the ABC reality series featured their story line because it allowed her to have a conversation with fans about mental health.
Clayton, 28, incited controversy when he eliminated Elizabeth during the Monday, January 31, episode of The Bachelor. Shanae repeatedly accused Elizabeth of bullying her, which she denied. After Elizabeth explained to Shanae that she suffered from ADHD, making it difficult for her to have conversations with multiple people simultaneously, Shanae informed the entire house of her castmate’s condition.
Their feud eventually devolved into an argument over whether Elizabeth ignored Shanae when she offered her shrimp in the hot tub. Though Clayton tried to moderate a discussion between the women to squash the beef, he ultimately decided to send Elizabeth home and give Shanae a rose.
The Bachelor publicly apologized to Elizabeth after watching the ordeal play out on screen. “I’m sorry, Elizabeth, for what you’re going through,” he tweeted on Tuesday. “I wish I could have seen what was happening when I wasn’t there. I obviously knew y’all weren’t in a good place, but at the time I thought it was, solely, petty drama.”
He continued: “I would have sent Shanae home immediately for making fun of you for being neurodivergent, had I known. Overall, the experience for me watching hasn’t been fun, simply because I’m seeing all the damage that I caused. I really meant well, but my actions weren’t always the best as I now can see the repercussions from my decisions.”
Clayton concluded by sharing his intentions to do better in the future. “I can promise you I’m learning from the mistakes though and am doing everything in my power to come out the other side a better man,” he noted.
Shanae, for her part, has thus far made light of “shrimp-gate” on social media.
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.
