The Bachelor alum Susie Evans has claimed show producers had influenced how she really felt about Clayton Echard during filming and she came to discover that he didn't really know anything about her at all.

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Susie opened up about what it was like to date Clayton in the real world in 2022 during the Tuesday, March 21 episode of "The Viall Files" podcast.

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

Susie apparently fell for Clayton on The Bachelor's 26th season, in part, because he had been presented to her in the most flattering light.

"I don't even know if I'm really supposed to say it, but there were things that were said or done throughout the process, where I was like, 'That was so thoughtful. That was such a thoughtful thing to have happen,'" Susie explained to the podcast's host, Season 21 The Bachelor star Nick Viall.

"And then after the process is over, you find out that that was somebody else's idea. That was somebody who's been listening to me [in interviews] for months that was like, 'You should make this toast and talk about her character, and how you admire her as a human being.'"

Susie suggested that producers exaggerated her connection with Clayton by convincing her that Clayton had a firm grasp of her core values and goals.

Susie was therefore led to believe that she and Clayton were compatible -- when they're really not, in her opinion.

"[With] these things, I was like, 'How does he know me so well?' It's like, no, these are people in his ear," Susie complained.

"And so it takes away from things where when we come out of there, I'm like, 'Wait, you don't know anything about my character. You don't know anything about who I am.'"

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS) 

Susie quit The Bachelor during her Fantasy Suite date with Clayton because he revealed he had slept with -- and also professed his love to -- both of his other Final 3 bachelorettes, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, earlier in the week.

Clayton went on to introduce Rachel and Gabby to his family, but then he determined he was the "most" in love with Susie, and so he dumped his other two bachelorettes simultaneously.

Clayton begged for another shot with Susie, but she returned for the Final Rose Ceremony only to break up with him under the assumption he wasn't her "person."

However, Susie and Clayton reunited 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 finally announced the former couple's breakup in September 2022.

Susie, however, insisted to Nick that Clayton is "accountable, honest and sticks to his word." She said he was willing to grow as a partner, although their relationship didn't work out.

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

Susie said that she and Clayton had dated for months, without being compatible, because the show never provided them with the tools to establish a deep emotional connection.

"You don't get enough quality time with that person [on the show]," Susie shared.

"I mean, that privacy behind Fantasy Suites, in my mind, I was like, 'I would have to ask every question over the moon.' I would want to really know that person on such a deeper level. I would want to know so much about them as a person because that's the only time you get to truly be real and raw and not have to worry about the world judging you."

But Susie reiterated how "the show doesn't give you enough time to have those kinds of conversations" and so the connections felt surface-level "for a lot of it."

"And I think that is a harder thing to get through when you're starting a relationship with somebody," she acknowledged.

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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