The Bachelor alum Clayton Echard has sparked dating rumors with sports reporter Sara Cardona.

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The Season 26 The Bachelor star was spotted sitting next to Sara at a college basketball game on Saturday, February 4.

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Clayton, 29, and the blonde journalist, 28, attended a University of Kentucky basketball game together at Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY.

Both Clayton and Sara -- who grew up in Nashville but began working at ABC36 as a sports anchor in the Lexington area in November 2021 -- posted photos from their time at the game via Instagram Stories on Saturday, according to Us Weekly.

Clayton, who's from Missouri but currently resides in Scottsdale, AZ, also reposted a video of himself dancing in the stands while standing next to Sara on his Instagram on Sunday, writing, "The liquid courage had taken over by this point."

Clayton's outing with the Colombia native came only a few days after he hung out with one of his The Bachelorette exes, Rachel Recchia, and got people talking about the status of their relationship.

Reality Steve spoiler blogger Steve Carbone therefore debunked Clayton and Rachel reconciliation rumors on Twitter by posting photos of Clayton and Sara being shown on the arena's jumbotron during the basketball game.

"No, Clayton isn't dating Rachel," Carbone tweeted on Saturday. "But he was at the Kentucky/Florida game tonight with local Lexington news reporter, Sara Cardona."

Carbone also posted a video that showed Clayton busting out with some dance moves on the arena's video display.

"And he's a dancing machine too!" Carbone joked.

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Prior to reporting in Kentucky, Sara also covered teams in Gainesville, FL, as well as Murfreesboro, TN.

Last week, Clayton starred in a series of playful and goofy TikTok videos and photos with Rachel, The Bachelorette alums Michelle Young and Blake Horstmann, and Blake's girlfriend Giannina Gibelli, who appeared on Season 2 of Love Is Blind.

In one video, Michelle lip syncs, "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"

"I would," Rachel responds, "but I think explaining it might give us both an aneurysm."

As Rachel mouths her line while sitting on a couch, the camera pans to the other side of the couch and shows Clayton sitting beside her.

Clayton, a former medical sales representative and football player who competed on Michelle's The Bachelorette season before starring as the Bachelor, proceeds to flash a smile and shrug his shoulders.

Giannina claimed on social media that the five former reality TV stars have recovered -- or are at least in the process of recovering -- from their "reality TV trauma."

Clayton devastated Rachel, a flight instructor, when he dumped her on The Bachelor's 26th season in order to pursue a future with Susie Evans. Clayton had decided to break up with Rachel and his other Final 3 bachelorette, Gabby Windey, at the same exact time.

Susie broke up with Clayton at the Final Rose Ceremony, saying she didn't think he was her "person," but they reunited after filming ended and fell in love. Clayton even moved to Virginia Beach to make a relationship with Susie work.

However, Clayton and Susie announced their split in September 2022. Clayton then relocated to Arizona and Susie just recently moved to Los Angeles, CA.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

Clayton has been working as a social-media influencer and motivational speaker about body dysmorphia, a mental-health issue he has personally struggled with, since then.

"My life is good; I'm doing what I want, I'm making an impact, and good things are happening," Clayton said on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast in December.

"I learned so much and I have zero regrets. I love everything that's happened in my life, because I am the person that I am because of the good and the bad. And I found good through all the bad."

Susie recently created a blog titled "Susie Was Like," and in a December blog post, Susie revealed that she and Clayton had split, in part, due to the fact they're not compatible.

"I think it was ultimately, like, expectations of what do you want in a partner? What do you want from yourself? And all of those kinds of things. And we just weren't really aligned on those things," Susie shared.

Clayton and Susie also said 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 backlash from Bachelor Nation -- including death threats sent to Clayton -- 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.

"I started to believe some of what was being said about me," he continued. "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 said he felt the need to rehab his image and please others, all the while trying to get over death threats and handle problems in his relationship, such as wrongly being accused of cheating on Susie.

The pair recently became friends again, but Susie suggested she wanted to "shade" Clayton after his recent hangout session with Rachel.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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