Clayton Echard Says He Didn’t Get to Pick Fantasy Suites Order, All 3 Finalists Told Him to Explore Connections

Credit: ABC (2)

Clayton Echard Says He Didn't Get to Pick Fantasy Suites Order, All 3 Finalists Told Him to Explore Connections

As the season 26 finale of The Bachelor approaches, Clayton Echard is continuing to try to explain how everything came crumbling down at fantasy suites. The 28-year-old Missouri native sat down with Kaitlyn Bristowe for an interview on her “Off the Vine” podcast and the season 11 Bachelorette was quick to point out that she also slept with more than one person on her 2015 season. “I was, like, really not OK with my season. I was in a very dark place. I slept with more than one person, I hurt people's feelings, I got dragged on the internet, I was a shell of myself. It is the hardest thing to go through and people have no idea,” the host began on the Thursday, March 10, episode of her PodcastOne show. “Because there's so much more than what you see on TV, and it's taken out of context. And it's just such a hard thing to try and navigate and then to be on so many interviews having to go along with this narrative [and] not be able to, like, tell what's happening because we all don't know yet. And I'm just so sorry that you're going through such a hard time, and I hope you know that it will pass. Do you feel that there's light at the end of the tunnel?” While Clayton noted that “there’s always light at the end of the tunnel,” he’s “not good” at the moment as he “didn’t think it was gonna be this bad” to watch the show back. [sendtonews type="float" key="mEQAJ52WPx-2832840-14453"] The former football player sent Susie Evans home during the dinner portion of their overnight date after the 29-year-old videographer took issue with Clayton having sex with — and saying he was falling in love with — Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey. He has since been accused of “gaslighting” Susie during their explosive split. “I'm almost fuming at people using this term gaslighting. I am so angry at the fact that people were trying to say I'm a gaslighter because it couldn't be farther from the truth,” he said. “I looked at the definition and it's when you try to convince someone that their reality is not factual. And that couldn't be farther from the truth. I did not try to convince her that her reality was not factual. I was just trying to convince her to give me another chance and understand where I was coming from. Not once did I say, ‘The way you're thinking about this is wrong, you are in the wrong going this way.’ Never once did I do that.” Clayton does admit that he was “immature” in his approach with Susie. “I did not manipulate her,” he said. “I allowed my emotions to attack her and I wish I wouldn't have done that. I was very upset. And I let my emotions get the best of me. I'm 1,000 percent in wrong for that. And I really wish I would never have acted that way toward her. But I did not gaslight or manipulate her and that is 1,000 percent a fact.” The Bachelor concludes with a two-part finale on ABC Monday, March 14, and Tuesday, March 15, at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll through for more from Clayton:

Credit: ABC (2)

Clayton Echard Says He Didn't Get to Pick Fantasy Suites Order, All 3 Finalists Told Him to Explore Connections

As the season 26 finale of The Bachelor approaches, Clayton Echard is continuing to try to explain how everything came crumbling down at fantasy suites. The 28-year-old Missouri native sat down with Kaitlyn Bristowe for an interview on her “Off the Vine” podcast and the season 11 Bachelorette was quick to point out that she also slept with more than one person on her 2015 season. “I was, like, really not OK with my season. I was in a very dark place. I slept with more than one person, I hurt people's feelings, I got dragged on the internet, I was a shell of myself. It is the hardest thing to go through and people have no idea,” the host began on the Thursday, March 10, episode of her PodcastOne show. “Because there's so much more than what you see on TV, and it's taken out of context. And it's just such a hard thing to try and navigate and then to be on so many interviews having to go along with this narrative [and] not be able to, like, tell what's happening because we all don't know yet. And I'm just so sorry that you're going through such a hard time, and I hope you know that it will pass. Do you feel that there's light at the end of the tunnel?” While Clayton noted that “there’s always light at the end of the tunnel,” he’s “not good” at the moment as he “didn’t think it was gonna be this bad” to watch the show back. [sendtonews type="float" key="mEQAJ52WPx-2832840-14453"] The former football player sent Susie Evans home during the dinner portion of their overnight date after the 29-year-old videographer took issue with Clayton having sex with — and saying he was falling in love with — Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey. He has since been accused of “gaslighting” Susie during their explosive split. “I'm almost fuming at people using this term gaslighting. I am so angry at the fact that people were trying to say I'm a gaslighter because it couldn't be farther from the truth,” he said. “I looked at the definition and it's when you try to convince someone that their reality is not factual. And that couldn't be farther from the truth. I did not try to convince her that her reality was not factual. I was just trying to convince her to give me another chance and understand where I was coming from. Not once did I say, ‘The way you're thinking about this is wrong, you are in the wrong going this way.’ Never once did I do that.” Clayton does admit that he was “immature” in his approach with Susie. “I did not manipulate her,” he said. “I allowed my emotions to attack her and I wish I wouldn't have done that. I was very upset. And I let my emotions get the best of me. I'm 1,000 percent in wrong for that. And I really wish I would never have acted that way toward her. But I did not gaslight or manipulate her and that is 1,000 percent a fact.” The Bachelor concludes with a two-part finale on ABC Monday, March 14, and Tuesday, March 15, at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll through for more from Clayton:

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Did He Pick the Order of Fantasy Suites?

As many fans pointed out, things could have played out differently if Susie, who was uncomfortable with Clayton sleeping with the other two women, had her overnight date first. Instead, she went last.

“The answer is no, I didn’t [pick the order], but I don't know how to answer that question,” he said. “They came in and they said, ‘We think you should do this way,’ and they convinced me. … They're like, ‘You need to keep your other options open, you need to keep everything open, so don't close off. Because if Susie goes first, we're afraid you're gonna close off.’ So I said, ‘OK.’ … I did have a say in it at the end of it all.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Susie Didn’t Warn Him, All 3 Women Said He Could Explore

Another topic Bachelor Nation has been debating is whether Susie should’ve told Clayton about her issues with the fantasy suite earlier in the season. While she argued that she wished her future fiancé would know how to behave, he pointed out that “real world rules” do not apply on The Bachelor.

“[The topic] didn't come up [with Susie earlier]. All three of the women said, ‘I want you to explore the other relationships fully,’ almost verbatim,” he said. “I assumed — this is where I made one of my biggest mistakes [and I wish going forward I learned ask more questions and never assume — because I assumed given the environment that we are, me being the Bachelor in this environment dating 30 women that the real-world rules did not apply. There was some leeway — because this is a very particular environment. And so I looked at it, like, if these women will stick around and watch me kiss other women in front of them — which that would never be acceptable in the real world — then these real-world boundaries are kind of set aside and there's a new playing field in this environment. And if you're going to date 30 women, you owe it to them to compartmentalize the relationships and be with only them and think only about them when you're with them. And then when you go to the next woman, you give your all to them as well.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Getting Hate Messages

While Kaitlyn tried to tell Clayton to stop reading his messages on social media, he revealed that people have found his phone number and email to send him hate.

“I’m just being attacked on all ends right now. … I'm not a victim. So I don't want people to sit and think I'm trying to make people feel bad for me. I'm a grown man, I can ultimately handle this as well and this too shall pass,” he said, adding that it’s “frustrating” to see what viewers are saying. “I get if you're upset with me. But for you to sit here and say, ‘You're a POS,’ … I can't say the words, ‘F you, go die,’ like, all of these comments coming in every minute.  I'm getting 100 a minute in my DMs. … 98 percent of it is just people telling me that I'm a terrible human being, I don't deserve to be on this earth, I don't deserve to be around these women — I just don't deserve anything. And they hope they wish that the worst falls upon me.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

The Ending

Clayton told Kaitlyn that there will be a “definite answer” about how his season ends on Tuesday, March 15, at After the Final Rose.

“Nobody has the slightest clue of what's going to happen. Again, I'm online a lot and I'll just say that I haven't even seen one person get it right. That’s the way I'll tease it. Everyone's making these judgments, and no one was even close to correctly pinning what happened. I would just tell people to reserve judgment until they see the full story and then I think people will understand why I've done everything that I've done.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Advice for Next Bachelor

Despite his rocky journey, Clayton said his advice to future leads would be to “follow your heart,” explaining: “I know through all my actions at the end of the day, I have no regrets. I wish I would have done things differently, but my journey was 100 percent authentic, I did what I thought was best at the time. I wish I would have done it differently now watching it back and seeing what happened. But because I followed my heart, I stayed true to myself. And if you stay true to yourself, you can live with your actions at the end of the day. If you don't stay true to yourself — if you make decisions that aren't your own in that role — that will eat you up until the end of the day.”