Clayton Echard has revealed where he and Gabby Windey currently stand after their explosive breakup on The Bachelor's 26th season, which aired in early 2022.
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"So I don't know how she feels about me. I would hope it's water under the bridge... I'd sit down and have a drink with her, one thousand percent."
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In late April, Gabby -- who starred on The Bachelorette's nineteenth season alongside Rachel Recchia after both women got dumped by Clayton on The Bachelor's 26th season -- took to Instagram and posted a photo of herself in a skin-tight black dress.
"Cl*yton was supposed to propose to me in this dress," Gabby captioned her upload, to which Clayton noticeably and flirtatiously commented, "Bring the dress to Scottsdale this weekend."
Clayton, who currently works as a real estate agent in Arizona, explained of the exchange, "I felt like when she made that original post saying, 'Clayton was supposed to propose to me in this [dress],' I kind of took that as a light, fun, lighthearted jab."
"I didn't take it as her taking a shot at me, even though she [put an asterisk] in the vowel of my name," he noted to "Click Bait" host Joe Amabile.
"I didn't think there was anything wrong with it. I just thought it was just banter, playful banter. She didn't say anything after I sent the message, and I know she saw it. The comment was up there, so I know she saw it."
And then earlier this month, Gabby gave away two iconic dresses to fans that she wore while filming The Bachelor with Clayton. She wore one of the gowns on Night 1, and her other giveaway was the dress she had rocked at the Rose Ceremony following Fantasy Suites.
Clayton, once again, commented. He wrote in response to Gabby's giveaway, "Don't be shy! Tag him!!"
Clayton shared of his second attempt to reach out to Gabby via social media, "Gabby posted something else recently about her selling the dresses from when we were on the same season together, and I was just like, 'Hey.' I wrote a comment... Because I'm just having fun with it."
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Joe asked Clayton if he thought about sliding into Gabby's DMs after commenting on her posts.
"No, because what am I going to slide for? I mean, I think she's an incredible person and I think she's doing really well for herself, but there's no -- I think at this point, we would just be friends, if anything," Clayton shared.
"There wouldn't be anything else there. She knows that and I know this."
Clayton elaborated of the Dancing with the Stars 31 runner-up, "There's no way she could ever revisit it after everything that happened. I think it was pretty apparent who I decided to choose, you know, going with [Susie Evans]."
Clayton dumped Gabby and Rachel at the same time on The Bachelor after he slept with and professed his love to both women during his round of Fantasy Suites. Clayton chose Susie, a "once-in-a-lifetime woman" as his winner, but Susie left the show due to Clayton's actions with his other Final 3 bachelorettes.
Clayton and Susie reunited in the real world after filming and began dating. (They announced their breakup in September 2022, and Clayton has been single ever since).
"I made that decision [to love Susie], and I don't think anybody would want to feel like they're the second choice," Clayton reasoned of why Gabby would probably keep her distance from him.
"That's just the way that this whole thing works. You're picking and there's multiple people, and I think in their head and in my head, you would never feel like you were number one."
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The former football player and medical sales representative from Missouri insisted that he wants to be "respectful" and not step on anyone's toes.
"I don't want to be plastered up on a headline of like, 'Clayton disrespects Gabby.' I don't want to have that, man," Clayton pointed out.
While Gabby continues to search for love after her broken engagement to The Bachelorette 19 winner Erich Schwer, Clayton said he's been "going out on dates" in Scottsdale and "weighing [his] options."
But Clayton revealed that he hasn't been talking to any women in Bachelor Nation, mainly because none of them have reached out to him.
"I don't know if there's a giant red flag waving above my head, but no one [is interested]," Clayton said with a laugh, adding how his DMs "have been dry."
Clayton, however, said he'd ultimately like to date a local girl in Scottsdale and he "has interest" in someone he's been "talking to" for over a month -- a woman whom he's taken out "multiple" times.
"We'll see where it goes," Clayton teased.
"I go back and forth, like, 'I feel I have so much going on, do I have the time to devote to somebody?' But at the same rate, I've had some really great conversations with somebody recently, and I'm pretty interested. I kind of caught myself wondering what [she's] doing. I've caught myself thinking about her."
Clayton -- who found fame when he competed on Michelle Young's The Bachelorette season -- said he's "intrigued" and "curious" about where this could go.
For Susie's part, she revealed on TikTok that she recently went out on one of the best first dates of her life.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
