How Does ‘The Bachelor’ End? Everything Clayton Echard, Jesse Palmer, ABC Execs and More Have Said

Credit: ABC/John Medland

How Does ‘The Bachelor’ End? Everything Clayton Echard, Jesse Palmer, ABC Execs and More Have Said

Bachelor Nation, prepare for another messy ending. Clayton Echard, Jesse Palmer and more have been promising a dramatic finale to season 26 for weeks — and it’s finally (almost) here. The 28-year-old Missouri native’s journey hit a breaking point during the fantasy suites episodes on March 8 after he admitted to Susie Evans that he slept with — and said he was falling in love with — both Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia. Clayton subsequently sent Susie home after she expressed concerns about being ready for an engagement once she was informed of his actions with the other women. “I remember the first day I went in, I said, ‘I will not fall in love with multiple people.’ And, like, I was so serious about it. And then the journey began, and I was just battling with it mentally. I’m like, ‘No, no, there’s no way,’” Clayton exclusively told Us Weekly before the season premiered in January. “[Then] I was like, you know what, quit fighting these feelings because if you do fight the feelings, you’re gonna hold back and then that’s gonna cause these women to potentially put up their walls. One day it hit me, and I was like, ‘I’m in, you know, [I’m] falling in love with multiple women.’ And I kind of started laughing in disbelief. I don’t know if it was a nervous — I think it was a nervous laugh. But you know what, I realized, like, ‘You can’t fight these feelings, you have to allow them to come out.’” [jwplayer teQvCarz-zhNYySv2] The problem, however, is his relationship with Susie crumbled once she knew about his feelings and based on the promos for the “rose ceremony from hell,” Gabby and Rachel don’t take it well either. “It was upsetting for the women to hear it and rightfully so,” Clayton told Us. “I understand that. My big thing is I’m someone who’s very transparent.” More recently, at the Women Tell All taping, the former football player told Us that he is “somewhat petrified at how all the things went down,” explaining: “It was the closest thing to a trainwreck.” When it comes to whether Clayton is single, engaged or in a relationship, he told Glamour earlier this month that he wishes “it could have went any other direction” than the direction it did. “I don't think anyone expected it to end the way that it did, including myself, nor did I want it to be that way,” he admitted. “There was a lot of things that I just never would've thought would've happened the way they did. So everyone will be kind of surprised.” 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 a breakdown of fan theories and quotes from Clayton, Jesse and more:

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Not Over Yet

Creator Mike Fleiss tweeted on February 21 that season 26 will be “spoiler-proof” because it “ain’t over till it’s over and it ain’t over…”

When asked about the post, Clayton told Us: “I will sit here and kinda shake my head in confirmation that there's a lot going on. And I think we all have to wait to see how it pans out.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Is Clayton In Love?

While the Bachelor has been open – on and off the show — about finding love on the series, he paused when Us asked whether he was currently in love during a March interview. “I felt a lot of love through the entire journey. It’s hard to answer,” he said. “It’s been alluded to that things are ongoing and I don't really, I don't know how things are going to end.”

When asked whether Clayton is “happy,” Jesse added, “I think he is so hopeful that when this is over, he will be.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

How It Ends In Iceland

Jesse told Us that he “thought” he knew how the show was going to end “once we wrapped in Iceland,” but now “we really don't know what's about to happen.”

“The show's been so wild for so many reasons this year. I think in large part because we've gone a lot of places figuratively that I don't think the show's ever been in 20 years. Clayton's sort of on a very, very unique path, and right now he's in a situation where he is in love with three women at the same time, which so many people cannot wrap their heads around. I can't. I was never close to being where he was on my season of The Bachelor,” he told Us. “I can't fathom that, but he's there. He never saw it happening either, but he's there. And so he is now having to navigate that. But coming up on After the Final Rose on a two-night live event, I seriously don't know what is going to happen. We're literally walking into that sort of blind, and the producers are too, and we're just gonna see what happens. I'm excited. I'm also a little bit nervous ‘cause I just, ‘cause I just don't where it's going to go.”

When asked by Glamour who had an edge going into the overnight dates, the host added, “If I was somebody watching up to this point, I would say Susie and Rachel are probably a little bit more ahead of where he is with Gabby, but it is tough to say because things are changing so quickly. He's having a lot of revelations. He's really forging his own path and owning his decisions and doing it his way. Clayton never watched the show before he did this. I think that's why things are changing so fast right now.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Does Clayton Turn on Gabby?

In the promos, it appears that Clayton tells Gabby, “I’ve given you everything. Did you just play me the entire time?” When asked whether fans are to assume that’s who he is speaking to, Clayton told Glamour: “What you see is what you see. Those words that I said … people will see who they were said to at the end of it all. But I really can't speak on that right now, but it will be apparent once the show airs.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Teddi’s Tease

During After the Final Rose, Teddi Wright told Clayton that she hopes he’s “OK” after what goes down. “I’m in a unique situation where I do know some things of how this all will play out,” Teddi told Us about her comment. “I hope that he’s doing good. I think, like, we can see from the promos that a lot goes on and he continues to do some things wrong. I’m happy that it’s all going play out soon and everyone will kind of know, and, like, he’ll be able to have the conversations he needs at After the Final Rose.”

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Does Susie Come Back?

In the finale teaser, Jesse tells Clayton that he has news that might “change everything.” As a result, there’s speculation that Susie will return ahead of the final rose ceremony.

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

More Than Just the Trailer

“Sometimes the trailer is wilder than the show. Not in this case however,” ABC exec Robert Mills tweeted in February.

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Shutting Down the Theories

According to Clayton, fans will get answers at After the Final Rose — and they will be surprised.

“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,” he said on “Off the Vine” in March. “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/John Fleenor

It’s ‘Insane’

Nick Viall teased the dramatic finale via an Instagram video on March 13. “I just watched the Bachelor finale … it is nuts. Insane,” he said. “Do you guys remember the debacle that was Arie [Luyendyk Jr.]’s season? Or Colton [Underwood]’s fence jump? Or the Peter [Weber] craziness? Child’s play compared to what I just witnessed.” 

The “Viall Files” podcast host said that as “soon as it starts it’s just nuts.” He further explained that “moment after moment” he was surprised by what takes place. “Most of the time I was shaking my head in disbelief. And then there’s some iconic moments,” the former Bachelor continued. “You have to watch it. It will be the most talked about finale, I think ever. Ever. It’s nuts.”