All’s well that ends well? Clayton Echard and Susie Evans’ Bachelor love story was anything but conventional, but the season 26 couple are now confident in their relationship.
“The only comments I see that I agree with are the ones that say, ‘Clayton had every right to explore these relationships and Susie had every right to walk away,’” the 29-year-old former Miss Virginia said on the Wednesday, March 16, episode of the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, referring to the pair’s initial breakup during fantasy suites. “That’s how we feel, we both felt that we both were valid. It’s really hard right now to see everybody basically taking sides because we’re, like, ‘They don’t know we’re together!’”
Clayton and Susie got into it during the overnight dates after she learned he slept with and was falling for Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey. After they broke up, however, Clayton admitted he still had feelings for Susie during the Monday, March 14, episode of the ABC show — after he convinced Rachel and Gabby to continue with the journey. He officially ended things with his other two finalists when he learned Susie was still in Iceland and while they didn’t leave the show as a couple, Clayton and Susie have since reconciled.
“People are taking sides … They’re being divisive. And they’re claiming these absolutes and we were four months past it. And we’re together and we both see each other’s perspective,” Susie told Becca Kufrin and Serena Pitt on Wednesday. “And we both have given each other grace where we’ve needed to. … We have high standards, and I would not be dating Clayton if he were a bad person, or if he were, you know, disrespectful when we had arguments. I wouldn’t stick around for that. I left him in Iceland, like, I wasn’t afraid to say, ‘No, I don’t want to be in this relationship.’ Because I didn’t know if it was good for me. But it is good for me.”
She concluded: “I just want to ask anybody that is supporting me right now — just know that, like, I’m making this choice, and it’s best for me. So please support us together and support Clayton as well.”
Clayton agreed. “I’ve faced a ton of heat just from the start — just for even accepting the role,” he said. ”I’ve kind of just been used to this. And I hope that through us being together, this doesn’t bring a lot of heat on her. I do expect there to be some blowback because people are going to be frustrated that she took somebody back like me, but the fact of the matter is that again, those people making those comments and assumptions don’t know who I am. She does, my loved ones do, her loved ones do, and they are very much supportive of us as a team.”
Scroll through for everything we have learned from Clayton and Susie after Tuesday’s finale: