The Bachelor alum Clayton Echard has come to Zach Shallcross' defense as viewers are criticizing his decision making during Fantasy Suites with Ariel Frenkel, Gabi Elnicki and Kaity Biggar.
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"Did Zach do things perfectly? No. None of us ever do it right, hardly any. There's time after time again where many of us have failed in that process. But just give him some grace. That's all I ask," Clayton requested of his followers.
Fans have been very vocal about the events that transpired on Monday night's broadcast of The Bachelor, which featured Zach setting a no-sex rule for himself in Fantasy Suites only to sleep with Gabi and then spill the intimate -- and private -- secret to Kaity, who admitted she didn't want to hear about Zach's relationships with the other women.
Kaity nearly quit the show in distress, and Gabi confessed Zach had blindsided her and broken her trust. Gabi accused Zach of "clearing his conscience at the expense of my heart."
The episode ended with Zach denying Ariel Frenkel a rose at the Rose Ceremony in Krabi, Thailand.
While both Gabi and Kaity accepted roses, they said they needed steps taken and questions answered in order to feel ready to get engaged to Zach.
"He's trying his best. Did he do things the right way? No," Clayton continued in his postings.
"I mean, not at all points. It's easy to look at it and go, 'Why did you do that?' But again, we don't know what's fully happening at all times. And it's just too hard to say, 'This is what you should do.' It's easy when you say it sitting watching it from a TV. It's another thing when emotions are involved."
Clayton insisted that when "emotions are attached" to a situation, people "act irrational."
"That is just how it is, and we all can relate to that. It's so easy to be rational when there's no emotional tie. The second you get an emotional tie, things are not cut and dry, and that's what we see," Clayton explained.
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In regards to Zach telling Kaity he had slept with someone else in the Fantasy Suites, Clayton said, "There's this talk of, 'He should've done it in privacy.' There is no privacy. The only privacy is Fantasy Suites. Before that [and] after that, there's zero privacy. You don't get off-camera time, so that can't happen."
Bachelor in Paradise bartender Wells Adams, for example, called out Zach for kissing and telling on-camera too much.
On whether Zach should have waited to share his intimate Fantasy Suite-stories with his winner after filming The Bachelor finale, Clayton reasoned, "That's fine. That is a very real possibility."
However, Clayton believes "the danger in that" is withholding such important information could result in a super happy ending and a magical engagement -- but then a breakdown in trust and communication later in the real world.
"You get engaged and then all of a sudden you say, 'Hey, I've got to tell you something off-camera.' They could either say, 'Hey thank you so much for letting me know this. I'm really appreciative that you didn't say this on national television,' or they could say the reverse, which is, 'Why didn't you tell me this sooner? Had you told me this, I would have made different decisions and I wouldn't ultimately be here," Clayton explained.
"[The woman might say], 'For something as big as an engagement, I wish you would've told me this because it would've affected my decision-making ability.'"
Clayton expressed how that's "a very real concern" the leads of the franchise "think about" while filming a season, and that's why he and Zach both felt compelled to be upfront and honest with their Final 3 women ahead of the Final Rose Ceremony.
"Withholding it, to me, is still a lie. If you withhold the truth and then wait a couple weeks and say, 'Hey, here's really what happened,' that can really put someone in emotional turmoil when they realize, 'Wait, you didn't tell me the full story until now?! I would have liked to have known beforehand,'" Clayton said.
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Clayton then addressed criticism the star should not express love to multiple people in order to avoid a messy outcome.
"I totally get that. I was the biggest believer in, 'I'm not going to fall in love with multiple people.' I kept saying that... And then what happened is the women started opening up to me and I wasn't reciprocating," recalled the former football player and medical sales representative.
"And then I started getting questioned, 'I've expressed myself and I don't know how you're feeling. It's making me put up walls.' And rightfully so!"
Clayton pointed out how some of the women threatened to shut down so they wouldn't get hurt. He said if he had continued "withholding his emotions," he realized he "may end up losing someone that I care about."
"That's a really tough spot to be in. You think, 'Okay, well, either I continue to withhold to try to protect everybody, but I may lose someone or two people or three people.' I found out after the show that almost seven women left -- almost seven -- because they didn't know where I was standing," Clayton revealed.
"Others almost left for other reasons, but some of them were wondering where I was at [emotionally]."
Clayton also addressed backlash a Bachelor or Bachelorette should just try to fall in love with one person and not go for multiple people.
"In hindsight, it's probably the best thing you can do," Clayton acknowledged.
But he noted how it's extremely difficult to pick a woman right off the bat when there are 30 beautiful, inquisitive and kind bachelorettes to get to know. He also said with America watching, a lead's decisions are never going to be a "win-win" for everybody.
"As the lead, it's just not that simple... We're dating multiple people. It's a foreign environment for all of us. We've never been in it before, so we have no experience to pull from, so how do you do it correctly?" Clayton shared.
"Everyone's trying it in a little bit different ways, only a few have found success. But with so many variables and different people and personalities, you just never know how to approach it, and all you can do is your best."
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Susie, however, reunited with Clayton after the show wrapped filming, and they were an item who announced their love to the world on The Bachelor: After the Final Rose in March 2022.
Internet trolls slammed Susie for giving Clayton another chance and allegedly having no respect for herself. Both Susie and Clayton faced so much backlash on social media -- including death threats to Clayton -- that it affected their mental health and even turned the pair against each other at times.
Susie and Clayton finally announced their breakup in September 2022.
Susie also spoke out about the backlash directed against Zach and his finalists on Monday night.
"I will never be too hard on anyone that goes on a national platform because regardless of if you agree with their actions or not, we are all emotional beings. Words can hurt. No one deserves humiliation or public shaming," Susie wrote on Instagram, according to BachelorNation.com.
She added, "As we are moving towards the end of this season, I just want to remind people to be kind. I don't anticipate as much of a tumultuous ending... This still feels like a good reminder that regardless of how a TV show makes you feel, it's generally unnecessary to reach out via message or comments to extend hate. You never know what someone is going through."
Gabi also felt the need to shut down trolls while The Bachelor was airing Monday night.
One of Gabi's followers pointed out how she was "deleting comments" on Instagram, and Gabi replied, "Yes I am. Because I don't need negativity and hate on my page. It's so unnecessary and unkind."
Gabi added, "There is NO reason to put others down, get off my page if you don't like me."
The Instagram user, however, clarified, "I like you queen just here for the drama."
Gabi appeared to delete most of the comments that criticized or demeaned her. For instance, a troll wrote on her page, "This girl is an embarrassment for female population."
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"Screw the haters," wrote one fan.
And another person commented, "You shouldn't have to deal with any negativity or hate on your page. You're a sweet girl and don't listen to any of that sh-t."
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
