Bachelor in Paradise bachelorettes Hunter Haag and Serene Russell have revealed what's new with Susie Evans following her split from The Bachelor star Clayton Echard.
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"I talk to Susie quite a bit," Hunter, 30, told Us Weekly on Saturday while attending a Bachelor in Paradise event. "She's doing well."
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Hunter became friends with Susie, 29, when the women competed for Clayton's heart on The Bachelor's 26th season, which filmed in late 2021 and aired earlier this year on ABC.
Hunter added of the wedding and destination videographer, "She's thriving. Her business is doing great, so we love to see it."
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Bachelor in Paradise bachelorette Serene Russell, who was Susie's roommate while filming The Bachelor, also shared how Susie is focusing on herself and her career following her breakup with Clayton.
"She's taking time to pursue her photography and travel and just really take care of herself," Serene, 27, explained to the magazine at the event, adding that Clayton's ex-girlfriend is doing "really well" right now.
Serene concluded, "We just want our friends to be happy."
Clayton and Susie announced their decision to part ways and end their relationship in late September.
But Clayton assured fans last month that he and Susie were "on good terms."
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"We've checked in a few times since we've broken up just basically saying, 'Hey, how are you doing?' [We've been] making sure that we're both okay mentally," the former medical sales representative and football player told E! News.
"We've both extended the notion of, 'Hey, if you're ever in a dark spot, call me.'"
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Clayton, however, pointed out at the time how it would be very difficult to heal if they're in constant communication with each other.
"We've decided to take this time to separate, focus on ourselves, heal, and find that love in ourselves that we had [before the show] -- that confidence and that peace," Clayton noted.
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Clayton said he still loves Susie and will probably always have feelings for her, but he acknowledged how "so much has changed" in the past year, including his own career aspirations, and so he's not sure if the pair will ever get back together.
Clayton, who speaks to children about anxiety and body dysmorpia, continued, "So we haven't put any promises on anything in the future."
While Clayton finds himself again and pursues his passions, he told E! News in October that he's not looking to date any time soon.
The Bachelor fans began to suspect there was trouble in paradise between Clayton and Susie in August, when Clayton revealed on an episode of Amanda Hirsch's "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast that the couple had decided to stop living together planned to move to different states.
Clayton -- who had moved to Virginia Beach to be with Susie after The Bachelor -- chose Scottsdale, AZ, as his new home, and Susie relocated to Los Angeles, CA.
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"It's really hard because when we first broke up... my first initial feeling was, like, I felt abandoned -- that was my first feeling," Clayton admitted in a joint appearance with Susie on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe" podcast in early October.
"I was like, 'We're just going to end this.' I was upset. I didn't even want to look in her direction because I was like: If I look at you, the hurt is gonna tear me apart."
Clayton and Susie explained how they broke up because neither person felt stable or fully emotionally supported in the relationship due to their insecurities and outside pressure from Bachelor Nation to be a perfect couple.
Clayton shared how it felt nearly impossible to pour into his relationship with Susie when he didn't even know what he wanted out of life and where his future was headed.
The couple also confirmed how dealing with Bachelor-Nation backlash was a big factor in why they had issues and ultimately parted ways.
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"I was trying to figure out what my next step was [and] I started questioning who I was because of all the negativity," Clayton said.
He added, "I started to believe some of what was being said about me. And I now look back at it and realize, like, I couldn't be that stable, secure man that I needed to be to really be able to give my all in a relationship."
Clayton claimed he had received death threats and felt the need to rehab his image and please others, all the while trying to handle problems in his relationship, such as being accused of cheating on Susie.
When Susie and Clayton announced their breakup in a September 23 statement, they wrote, "We stand in support of each other and hope to see the other go on to find happiness and healing. Although Claysie is no more, we hope that our communities can support us individually as we move forward with love and respect for each other."
And out of respect for each other, Susie and Clayton chose to keep some of their problems to themselves.
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"There are things private to us that we will probably never talk about... and I think that's healthy and protects our mental health and what we have struggled with... We want to respect each other's boundaries," Susie said on "Off the Vine."
On The Bachelor's 26th season, Susie quit before her overnight Fantasy Suite date with Clayton, only to return to the show at the Final Rose Ceremony to reject his final rose.
Susie was upset Clayton had expressed his love to -- and slept with -- two other women, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, and Susie was convinced during the show that Clayton wasn't her person and they weren't meant to be.
However, Susie reached out to Clayton post-filming seeking some answers, and the pair reconciled. They later put on a united front during the live March taping of After the Final Rose, and then Clayton moved to Virginia Beach to live with Susie.
"We want everyone to support both of us and not be on teams," Susie previously told Kaitlyn Bristowe on her podcast, later adding, "I think I'm going to walk away with better communication and also knowing what I need... more clarity for myself."
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