The Bachelor couple Clayton Echard and Susie Evans have revealed additional details about how they reconciled and got back together after filming Season 26.
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Susie and Clayton fought and broke up during their Fantasy Suite date in Iceland over Clayton's decisions earlier in the week, namely that he had sex and professed his love to both Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey.
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But Clayton ultimately determined Susie is a "once-in-a-lifetime" woman and they had a special love, and so once he dumped Rachel and Gabby simultaneously and then threw "the biggest Hail Mary that Bachelor Nation has ever seen," according to host Jesse Palmer.
Clayton tried to win Susie back and wrote her a heartfelt letter, but she dumped him at the Final Rose Ceremony and said she didn't love him or think he's her "person."
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The pair therefore finished the show and left Iceland single and alone -- until Susie reached out to Clayton post-filming by DMing him on Instagram!
"I didn't reach out with the intentions of restarting a relationship or knowing where that conversation was going to go," Susie said during an appearance on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast this week, according to Us Weekly.
"But I think we both had been through a lot. And we both loved each other a lot. And I just wanted to reach out and ask for one more conversation with him."
Susie elaborated on her bold direct message to Clayton after filming wrapped in a separate interview on "The Viall Files" hosted by Nick Viall.
"When I reached out to him, I was just, like, 'Hey, we haven't really had the capacity, the time, the environment to really put things out there and for you to be able to tell me what happened that night -- was that normal? Is that what it's like if we fight or if you're to have a fight with somebody?'" Susie reportedly recalled.
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"But we were able to really, like, get to the bottom of that."
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Once the pair reconnected, they began FaceTiming each other and having frequent conversations. Clayton and Susie recalled talking for hours until they'd both fall asleep at night.
Once Susie found herself smitten with Clayton again, she was reportedly the one who asked him to officially be her boyfriend.
Susie said she wanted to put a title on her relationship with Clayton once The Bachelor season began airing in early January.
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And as the weeks progressed, the couple apparently only grew closer and were able to talk everything out.
"We sat down with our journals one day when we were just like, 'Let's compare notes, like, where's your head at here?' And there were no surprises, like, we really talked about everything," Susie shared with Us about watching the show back.
Susie explained on The Bachelor finale on Tuesday night how leaving Iceland without Clayton was the best decision she could have made because she was allowed time to explore her own feelings and figure out in what capacity she'd like Clayton to be in her life.
And even though the pair spent time apart after filming wrapped, Clayton told People that he never moved on from his feelings for Susie.
"I never took a step back," Clayton revealed. "I was still very much in love with Susie and when the door opened back up, I was fully back in."
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And Susie added, "I wanted answers for how he treated me on the initial day of our breakup. But we've learned so much about each other. And those feelings of love came back."
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Susie needed answers about her first breakup with Clayton during their Fantasy Suite date. Clayton claimed Susie had "invalidated" their entire relationship by trying to leave, and he accused her of not wanting to fight for their love.
Clayton, worrying in the back of his mind Susie was just gunning to become the next The Bachelorette star, also told the wedding videographer that he didn't know who he was looking at anymore.
But once Susie received the closure she needed from that tense and emotional argument -- for which Clayton was accused of gaslighting in the press -- Susie said she was able to give Clayton her heart.
"I was telling her that I loved her, and I said, 'You don't have to [say it]... Just tell me when you're ready to say it, but I'm going to tell you because I never fell out of love with you,'" Clayton told People.
"She actually slipped up on the phone for the first time. She was waiting to tell me in person, and she said it on the phone."
Clayton and Susie also disclosed how their families were "shocked" once they heard about the reconciliation but they've all been talking virtually since then and now everyone is "pumped" for them.
Susie told Jesse on the live finale Tuesday night that she expects to receive some backlash from Bachelor Nation due to Clayton's season being so controversial but she hopes people will be happy for them and root for them as a couple.
"It's not Team Clayton and it's not Team Susie. We are together," Susie said, adding that they both have the best of intentions.
Clayton noted how his tumultuous journey was "1,000 percent" worth it now that he's with Susie and he "couldn't be happier."
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"I've spent the last four months with her, and she just impresses me more and more every day," Clayton gushed.
"She continues to give me reason after reason why following my heart was the best decision I ever could have made, and I could not be more in love with this woman."
Clayton then gave Susie his final rose, which she accepted with a full heart, and announced how he had quit his job, sold his condo, and is moving to Virginia to give their romance his best effort.
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