Clayton Echard says he assumed Susie Evans agreed with him that real-world rules do not apply to The Bachelor world and so he could essentially sleep with anyone or everyone without major consequences.
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But Susie had been emotionally spiraling for days, and so she told Clayton that she didn't think she could move forward in the process knowing he had been willing to jeopardize and compromise their relationship.
Susie explained how she never wanted to give Clayton an ultimatum and just hoped he would prove his love and loyalty to her. Susie thought their connection was unlike any other, and so she planned to get engaged only under the circumstances of Clayton being all hers.
"These boundaries were not set for all of you in the Fantasy Suites. You guys should've talked about this before that happened," The Bachelorette co-host Kaitlyn Bristowe told Clayton during Thursday's episode of her "Off the Vine" podcast.
"Did that conversation [about sex in the Fantasy Suites] just not ever come up?" she asked.
"No, it didn't come up," Clayton confirmed. "I had all three of the women say, 'I want you to explore the other relationships fully, almost verbatim."
Clayton continued, "And so I assumed -- and this is where I made my biggest mistakes."
The former medical sales representative and college athlete said he "learned to ask more questions and never assume" from his experience on the show.
"I assumed given the environment that we were in, me being the Bachelor in this environment of dating 30 women, that with these women, the real-world rules did not apply," Clayton explained.
"[I thought] there was some leeway because this is a very particular environment."
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Clayton apparently thought his Final 3 women would be understanding if he chose to sleep with one, two or all of them.
"I looked at it as, 'If these women are willing to stick around and watch me kiss other women in front of them -- which 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,'" Clayton reasoned.
"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."
Clayton said whenever he moved on to the next date or the next woman, he'd give his "all" to that person as well.
"You don't allow thoughts of another woman to creep in your head when you're with that person," Clayton told the Season 11 The Bachelorette star. "And I compartmentalized, I guess, too well. I was just all in with these women."
Clayton also bashed criticism that he was "saying the same thing to multiple women" when professing his love to Gabby, Rachel and Susie during the Fantasy-Suite dates.
"I'm only one person. I don't have a different vocabulary depending on whom I'm talking to," Clayton noted.
"So I felt these feelings of love and they were genuine, and if anything, I felt so similar with every one of those connections that that's why the same things were being said -- because I felt that way, genuinely."
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Clayton realized, once he stepped aside from the fantastic dates, the "danger" of him being so vulnerable would be having to hurt two women in the end.
"It hit me when I was sitting alone in interviews and when I was sitting alone in my room," Clayton said.
"I was like, 'You're in a deep spot. You're in a really bad spot. You have told three women now you're in love, and how do you think this is going to end?' But in the moment, I thought, 'You're the Bachelor. This is acceptable. These women are understanding.'"
Susie was clearly not understanding, but Clayton acknowledged how he sympathizes with her point of view now that he's had some time to think from an outside perspective.
"Watching it back [on Tuesday night], I was embarrassed. I was shocked that I couldn't see her side," Clayton shared.
"I remember when I was there and living it in real time that she was emotionless, that she didn't care. And that's the way I remember it!"
But Clayton said once he watched the footage on television, he realized that wasn't the case at all and Susie was definitely emotional during their breakup conversation.
He also noticed how she was "thoughtful and struggling" with the decision to leave "a lot."
"Now that I stepped outside of it, I'm like, 'Dude, this is clear as day where she was coming from,' and I feel terrible because I questioned this woman of incredible character that should never have been questioned to that nature," Clayton said.
Clayton said in previous interviews how he became convinced that Susie was "playing" him and saying all the right things to become the next The Bachelorette star when she refused to forgive him and work on their relationship.
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Clayton therefore beat Susie to the punch by dumping her before she could quit, and he told her that he was "done" and didn't even know whom he was looking at anymore.
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Clayton concluded that he's very upset with the way he handled himself when letting Susie go.
Kaitlyn agreed that everyone is a victim to the environment that they're in, especially when there is no one around to ground you, support you or talk things out.
"By the end [of The Bachelor franchise], everyone is always struggling in the end, and that's sadly what makes for great TV. But it really affects you as a human being," Kaitlyn pointed out, adding how it's so tough to watch everything back and relive it.
Clayton also revealed that had Susie presented him with her dealbreaker regarding sex or an ultimatum not to have sex with anyone else in the Fantasy Suites, it would have resulted in him not sleeping with any of his Final 3 women or cutting The Bachelor process short and leaving with Susie.
"It would've been respectful in a way that we both could have said, 'Okay, we're not on the same playing field.' I believe I would have done the former and not the latter, but I at least know that it would have been a mature conversation through it," Clayton insisted.
"Because we had the last Fantasy Suite, my actions had already been taken. And at that point, all I could do was try to fight for her and try to convince her... to give me another chance."
The Bachelor is set to air a two-night finale event on Monday, March 14 and Tuesday, March 15, with both broadcasts airing at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
