The Bachelor’s Clayton Echard Doesn’t Think He Gaslit Susie Evans: ‘I Understand That It Appears That Way’

Credit: ABC (2)

The Bachelor's Clayton Echard Doesn't Think He Gaslit Susie Evans: 'I Understand That It Appears That Way'

Showing some remorse. Clayton Echard doesn't feel great about how his split from Susie Evans went down on the latest episode of The Bachelor. The former football player, 28, explained his controversial decision to send home the wedding videographer, also 28, during an appearance on the Wednesday, March 9, episode of Ashley Iaconetti and Ben Higgins' "Almost Famous" podcast. "I did not handle it correctly," the Missouri native said of Susie's exit, which viewers saw on the Tuesday, March 8, episode of The Bachelor. "Because I was so hurt and upset that I felt as though she gave no emotion from start to finish. And I watch it back now and I'm like, 'It's clear as day the emotion was there.' She was torn, but I couldn't see that." Earlier in the episode, Susie expressed her worry that she wouldn't be able to forgive Clayton if he slept with Rachel Recchia or Gabby Windey during his fantasy suite dates, which both happened before hers. When the Virginia native finally got her one-on-one with Clayton, he confessed that he slept with both women — and said "I love you" to both too. [sendtonews type="float" key="77hr5yGds6-2833267-14453"] Susie and Clayton initially tried to work through the situation, but the conversation quickly took a turn. “I don’t even know who I’m looking at anymore,” the sales rep said before sending her home. “You just dropped a bombshell on me, and I don’t agree with it at all how you went about it. I think it’s BS." The scene drew immediate backlash from viewers and fans, including several members of Bachelor Nation. Clayton's eliminated contestant Sierra Jackson accused him of "gaslighting" Susie, while former Bachelor Nick Viall said that the current lead was "being a dick" but not actually gaslighting. "Clayton playing [the] victim is outrageous," added Rick Leach, who appeared on Michelle Young's season of The Bachelorette. During his conversation with Ben, 32, and Ashley, 34, Clayton admitted that he was wrong to think Susie didn't truly feel anything for him. "It was untrue," he said, referring to his comment that Susie didn't "fight" for him. "But I couldn't see that because I was just trying to do everything in my power to see if I could convince her to give me a second chance. ... Now I watch it back and I'm like, 'No, she didn't seem cold at all, man. You literally had the wrong perspective. You couldn't even see her perspective then.' There's a lot of things I look back now where I'm like, 'Well, what were you thinking?'" Keep scrolling for more revelations from Clayton's appearance on the podcast: [podcast_block]

Credit: ABC (2)

The Bachelor's Clayton Echard Doesn't Think He Gaslit Susie Evans: 'I Understand That It Appears That Way'

Showing some remorse. Clayton Echard doesn't feel great about how his split from Susie Evans went down on the latest episode of The Bachelor. The former football player, 28, explained his controversial decision to send home the wedding videographer, also 28, during an appearance on the Wednesday, March 9, episode of Ashley Iaconetti and Ben Higgins' "Almost Famous" podcast. "I did not handle it correctly," the Missouri native said of Susie's exit, which viewers saw on the Tuesday, March 8, episode of The Bachelor. "Because I was so hurt and upset that I felt as though she gave no emotion from start to finish. And I watch it back now and I'm like, 'It's clear as day the emotion was there.' She was torn, but I couldn't see that." Earlier in the episode, Susie expressed her worry that she wouldn't be able to forgive Clayton if he slept with Rachel Recchia or Gabby Windey during his fantasy suite dates, which both happened before hers. When the Virginia native finally got her one-on-one with Clayton, he confessed that he slept with both women — and said "I love you" to both too. [sendtonews type="float" key="77hr5yGds6-2833267-14453"] Susie and Clayton initially tried to work through the situation, but the conversation quickly took a turn. “I don’t even know who I’m looking at anymore,” the sales rep said before sending her home. “You just dropped a bombshell on me, and I don’t agree with it at all how you went about it. I think it’s BS." The scene drew immediate backlash from viewers and fans, including several members of Bachelor Nation. Clayton's eliminated contestant Sierra Jackson accused him of "gaslighting" Susie, while former Bachelor Nick Viall said that the current lead was "being a dick" but not actually gaslighting. "Clayton playing [the] victim is outrageous," added Rick Leach, who appeared on Michelle Young's season of The Bachelorette. During his conversation with Ben, 32, and Ashley, 34, Clayton admitted that he was wrong to think Susie didn't truly feel anything for him. "It was untrue," he said, referring to his comment that Susie didn't "fight" for him. "But I couldn't see that because I was just trying to do everything in my power to see if I could convince her to give me a second chance. ... Now I watch it back and I'm like, 'No, she didn't seem cold at all, man. You literally had the wrong perspective. You couldn't even see her perspective then.' There's a lot of things I look back now where I'm like, 'Well, what were you thinking?'" Keep scrolling for more revelations from Clayton's appearance on the podcast: [podcast_block]

Credit: ABC/Pamela Littky

How He Feels Now

"I woke up with a pounding headache, just stressed out," Clayton said, explaining how he felt after The Bachelor aired on Tuesday. "I'm embarrassed. I knew that this moment was coming. I'd kind of alluded to it in previous weeks. I'm not exactly shocked by the reactions online. ... People are very much against me and favoring her, but I totally understand that. I totally get what I'm seeing. I'm embarrassed. I wish that I could have seen her side in that moment."  

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

His Fantasy Suite Strategy

Clayton explained that he entered the fantasy suites week with the belief that physical intimacy was "critical" to a relationship, so he wanted to find out if he was compatible with the women in that way. "If I'm going to get engaged, that has to be there," he added.

If Susie had told him ahead of time that she didn't want him to have sex with anyone in the fantasy suites, he believes he would have abstained — but he said he would still have felt "love" for all three of the contestants. "If I would have sat and talked to her and said, 'I'm in love with these other two women as well,' and she said, 'That's a deal-breaker,' then it wouldn't have mattered if she went first or third," he said. "The only thing that I could have changed is, 'OK, I cannot be intimate with anybody and protect everyone.' And I believe I would have done that. But I would have still had the feelings."

Credit: ABC/Pamela Littky

Why He Said 'I Love You' 3 Times

Clayton made the unusual move of telling all three of his remaining contestants that he was in love with them, but he admitted that he didn't think it was a good idea at the time. "I made it make sense in that moment. I had to make it make sense. ... They need to know you're in love with them before you get engaged. ... When is the right time to tell somebody on that show when you're falling in love with them? And I know people say, 'OK, well, he should just have just told one person.' I was in love with multiple women, so I felt that I should tell them all at the same time."

Credit: Sara Jaye Weiss/Shutterstock

On Gaslighting

Many viewers accused Clayton of accused gaslighting Susie in their final conversation before her exit, but he doesn't believe that's what he did. "It's tough because I've seen what everyone's saying and they're using some pretty descriptive terms, some pretty heavy-hitting terms that I couldn't disagree with more. But I understand that it appears that way," he said. "I don't agree that I was gaslighting because I looked that up, and it said gaslighting, the definition is to try and convince someone of a different reality than what is actually the true reality of the situation. ... Gaslighting in my eyes is something where it's you have bad intentions, you're trying to manipulate somebody, and I was not at all trying to do that. My reality was in my head at that point."

Credit: ABC/Ricky Middlesworth

Susie's Motives

Clayton admitted that he believed in the moment that Susie was looking for a way out of the show because she was angling to be named the next Bachelorette. "I thought, 'Why does it seem like she's not fighting for this? Why does she seem like she can't even give me a chance?'" he recalled. "I started having these really dangerous thoughts of being like, 'What if Susie right now is just trying to get out of this? What if she's just saying whatever she needs to say to leave me so that she can be the next Bachelorette?'"

He went on to say that he stopped feeling that way almost as soon as the argument was over. "I don't believe that now," he explained. "I didn't believe it the next day, but I believed it in that moment and because of that I allowed my emotions to take over."

Credit: ABC/Pamela Littky

What He Learned

"One of the greatest things that I learned was the power of emotion," he told Ben and Ashley. "When you allow that to overcome rationale ... I saw that I shut down. And I jumped to a lot of conclusions that aren't realistic, that weren't the truth. And so I've known this before, but I know now going forward, if I ever get overwhelmed like that ever again, [I should] take a deep breath and step aside. Say, 'I need to take five,' just step away. I in that moment did not do that. And I wish I would have just taken a breather and walked outside and said, 'Give me 20 minutes,' but I didn't. I also learned again that my reality is one thing and someone else's reality is another, and perception is reality. However people perceive it, that's the reality of it."