‘The Bachelor: The Women Tell All’ Recap: Clayton Echard Answers Burning Questions About Shanae and Sarah, More Revelations

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

‘The Bachelor: The Women Tell All’ Recap: Clayton Echard Answers Burning Questions About Shanae and Sarah, More Revelations

In the hot seat! Clayton Echard’s exes turned the tables on him during The Bachelor: The Women Tell All. The reality star faced Shanae, Sarah and more of his former flames during the Monday, March 7, episode. The eliminated contestants also got heated with each other on several occasions, particularly when discussing the drama from season 26. Clayton reflected on the tense reunion after the taping. “I do wear my emotions on my sleeve, especially with facial expressions,” he exclusively told Us Weekly. “A few of the women come up afterward [to] tell me, ‘Hey, smile.’ I think it’s pretty apparent that I was a little rattled by this. It really hurts me.” The former football player noted that he has “always been a people pleaser,” which impacted his experience as the Bachelor. “I’ve always tried to keep as many people happy as I interact with. And tonight showed me that I really frustrated a lot of these women, and I hope that they can forgive me, ultimately,” he said. “But I could only say what I felt was needed to be said. I hope they understand that I’m human. And I tried my best.” [jwplayer VmBr0wZF-zhNYySv2] While Clayton has maintained that he gave it his all as the lead, he wished he would have handled conflict “a lot better” throughout his journey. “I should have asked more questions. I don’t necessarily know what in particular I could have done specifically,” he explained. “I mean, our days, we were running around doing a million things. It’s not like we had downtime, but I could have in those moments just asked another question or two. And that may have uncovered what I needed to uncover.” As for the women who were caught up in the drama, Clayton told Us that he was open to moving past the issues — even when it came to Shanae. “I don’t like to hold onto anything. I am willing to forgive everyone for their actions. I was shocked by Shanae,” he said. “I think she showed me one thing and did another on camera, but you know what? I think everybody deserves some grace and I certainly hope that if she feels apologetic for what she did, then I can forgive her.” Clayton’s final three women — Rachel, Gabby and Susie — were not present at The Women Tell All. Their love stories will continue to play out in the fantasy suites episode, which airs on Tuesday, March 8. Scroll through the gallery below for all the bombshells from The Women Tell All: [podcast_block]

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Cassidy Wasn’t Willing to Give Up Her ‘Friend With Benefits’

The executive assistant denied insulting any of her costars directly, despite repeatedly calling them “bitches” during the season. She also claimed that the women took issue with her having casual sex with someone before coming on the show, but they fired back that they were only concerned with her plans to hook up with her “friend with benefits” again after she returned from filming. Cassidy retorted that the fling was so good that she was not willing to cut it off unless she and Clayton got engaged on the show. 

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Shanae Is Still Not Sorry

The season 26 villain got a lot of screen time during the reunion but did nothing to atone for her actions. Shanae said that she only apologized to the women after the trophy incident because Clayton wanted her to do so. She even went so far as to allege that if she and Clayton had gotten engaged, he would’ve stayed with her after the show despite her behavior.  

Elizabeth, meanwhile, denied Shanae’s claim that they were good friends on night one before Elizabeth turned on her the following day. The real estate advisor alleged that Shanae’s recollection of their first conversation led her to form a “really intense obsession” with Elizabeth. 

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Did Genevieve Sleep With Aaron Clancy?

Genevieve and Shanae got the chance to rehash their feud, during which Genevieve claimed that the pair agreed not to talk about each other during their two-on-one date with Clayton.  

Shanae then accused Genevieve of hooking up with Aaron — from Katie Thurston’s season of The Bachelorette and season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise — after Clayton eliminated her. Genevieve admitted to meeting Aaron at a bar but denied sleeping with or even kissing him. Genevieve subsequently claimed that Shanae slid into Aaron’s DMs, but he thought Shanae was “crazy.” 

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Clayton and Sarah Disagree Over His Alleged Tears

Sarah said that it was never her intention to hurt any of the other women by sharing details of her and Clayton’s relationship, but she doubled down on her previous claim that he cried during their first one-on-one date. When Clayton appeared on stage, he once again denied Sarah’s assertion that he got emotional on their date. She then walked back the allegation, clarifying that she didn’t say he cried to her. 

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Clayton’s Brother Slid Into Teddi’s DMs

Teddi revealed that she is ready for love after her split from Clayton, but she is not interested in Clayton’s brother, who DMed her. She insisted that she did not reply because dating one Echard was enough for her. (Clayton has two brothers — Nate and Patrick — but Teddi did not specify which one reached out to her.)

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Clayton Explains Why He Believed the Women About Sarah But Not Shanae

The Missouri native said that he had not built trust with the cast yet when they came to him with accusations about Shanae — who he said “manipulated” him — and he wanted tangible evidence before taking action. With the Sarah situation, he trusted the women who brought their concerns to his attention.  

Clayton accused Sarah of causing him to question his connections with the remaining women after her exit. He believed she was playing a game and later wondered who else might be fooling him. However, he noted that he still did not know for sure whether Sarah was trying to manipulate her fellow contestants. 

Sarah, for her part, told Clayton he was disingenuous with her and claimed he was the one who stirred the pot when it came to the drama surrounding her.  

Credit: ABC/Craig Sjodin

Serene Influenced Clayton’s Future Love Confessions

Clayton divulged that it made him sick to think that Serene believed her saying “I love you” caused him to send her home. Therefore, he decided not to hold back his feelings anymore during his journey, seemingly leading him to tell all of his final three women that he was in love with them. 

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The Host Doesn’t Even Know How the Season Ends

Host Jesse Palmer told the audience during the special, “How does it end? Well, listen, I was there and I still have no idea.”  

Sierra then confronted Clayton over his “messy” ending, and he insisted that he did his best in the moment. Teddi subsequently hinted that she knew how things panned out and told Clayton that she hoped he was OK. 

Meanwhile, Kira told Clayton that she was even more attracted to him while watching the season, and she was still single if he was not engaged.   

The Bachelor continues on ABC Tuesday, March 8, at 8 p.m. ET.