The Bachelor alum Clayton Echard has revealed that he's still talking to Susie Evans and they have a mutual understanding post-split.
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Clayton and Susie fell in love on The Bachelor's 26th season, which aired earlier this year, and they announced their decision to part ways and end their relationship in late September.
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But Clayton assured fans that he and Susie are "on good terms" after their breakup in a video interview with E! News.
"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," Clayton shared.
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"We've both extended the notion of, 'Hey, if you're ever in a dark spot, call me.'"
In fact, Susie joked on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe" podcast earlier this month how she was sending Clayton funny videos and TikToks nonstop after they called it quits, which made her question if she was allowing her ex the space to mend his heart and move on from her.
"At the end of the day, we know what we've went through is different than what anyone else has experienced," Clayton said. "So, we'll probably be one of the only few people to really understand each other in that sense."
But Clayton pointed out how he and Susie need to establish some boundaries with how much they reach out to each other.
"[We] know right now that if we're trying to heal, it makes it really hard if you're constantly in communication," Clayton reasoned.
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"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 has 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 and things continue to change "day by day" for the former football player.
"So we haven't put any promises on anything in the future," Clayton said of possibly reconciling with Susie and getting back together.
"We obviously will always respect and have love for each other, and I think that's a really great place to be, where it's not a hostile-ex situation."
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Clayton insisted both he and the wedding videographer have been "very loving and caring" to each other.
"We just want what's best for each other, and who knows what that looks like," Clayton noted.
While Clayton finds himself again and pursues his passions, he said he's not looking to date any time soon.
Instead, he'll be giving children lectures about anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia, which are conditions he's battled in life. Clayton even admitted to having had suicidal thoughts while The Bachelor was airing from January through March.
Clayton has also turned to therapy, exercise and journaling to better himself and grow stronger as an individual during this challenging time.
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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 pair 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.
"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 on "Off the Vine" last week.
"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 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 wants out of life and where his future is going.
The couple also confirmed how dealing with Bachelor-Nation backlash was a big factor in why they had issues and ultimately parted ways.
"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.
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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.
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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.
"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 the former medical sales representative's 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 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."
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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