The Bachelor star Clayton Echard has revealed he's upset about Rachel Recchia's suspicion he told her "I love you" just to sleep with her in the Fantasy Suite.
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On The Bachelor: After the Final Rose that aired on March 15, Rachel flat out asked Clayton if he had professed his love to her in the Fantasy Suite just so he could sleep with her, and Clayton quickly denied that was the case.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
"That was a surprising comment," Clayton, 28, admitted to Us Weekly during a recent joint interview with his now-girlfriend Susie Evans.
Although Clayton had said "I love you" to three women -- Rachel, Susie and Gabby Windey -- and also slept with both Rachel and Gabby, he said he was really taken aback by Rachel's blunt question.
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"I was shocked that she said that and it hurt that that's a question that she seriously is considering," Clayton confessed. "But you know what? I don't know. There's not much more I can say."
Clayton confirmed that Rachel thinking so little of him really bothered him.
"It hurts because for her to feel that way -- I don't want to take that away from her. I told her, I said, 'No.' And she said, 'Well, I don't believe it.' And there's nothing more I could say besides, 'Okay,' at that point," Clayton noted.
Despite the jab, Clayton apparently hopes he and Rachel can talk things out and bury the hatchet down the road.
"If there's one day down the road that she wants to have a candid conversation and talk more in-depth about the entire thing, I would certainly give that to her," Clayton explained.
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"I think I do owe it to both of them -- if they would like to -- but if they don't want to hear anything else come out of my mouth... then they shouldn't feel that they need to give me that ability to explain myself."
Clayton concluded, "If you don't believe me, you don't believe me. And I don't think there's anything I can say to convince you."
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Susie happened to be Clayton's third Fantasy Suite date of the week, and the pair mutually agreed she should leave the show in a tense and heated breakup discussion.
Susie was upset about not being Clayton's one and only, and Clayton was angry Susie didn't seem willing to fight for and save their relationship.
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Clayton therefore introduced both Gabby and Rachel to his family, which helped him determine that he was truly "the most in love" with Susie and wanted to be with her, a "once-in-a-lifetime woman."
Susie ultimately returned to the show and made an appearance at the Final Rose Ceremony, but she dumped the Bachelor instead of accepting his final rose. Susie said at the time that Clayton wasn't her person and they didn't seem meant to be.
However, Susie reached out to Clayton post-filming seeking some answers, and the pair reconciled and are now dating and in love in the real world.
Clayton told Us that he was truly convinced he was in love with three women during the Fantasy Suites but now he feels differently.
"As I've now taken the time to reflect and look back, I believe that I had gotten to the point where I was falling in love with everybody but then it got to the point where I was only in love with Susie," Clayton claimed.
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Clayton said he now believes you can only be in love with one person and so he must have just been "falling" for Rachel and Gabby.
"That's where I made a mistake. I was confused on the show," Clayton acknowledged.
Clayton said the confusion came because he really changed and adapted to The Bachelor environment when he was filming the show, which allowed him to progress multiple relationships so quickly and meaningfully.
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"It was unchartered territory and I did make a major, major mistake of assuming, 'Okay, this is how things have operated from what I've heard. I'm sure the women are aware of how things work here, so maybe it's a little different from the outside world,'" Clayton told the magazine.
"But what I came to realize is some of the women still had the mindset -- and rightfully so -- like, 'This is the way I date. I'm dating one person.' These women were dating one person and I was dating 30, so that's where I think there was a contrast."
Clayton admitted he should have asked the women more questions in order to understand their point of view and approach to the unique process.
"We have kind of come to the conclusion that I was living with my real-world expectations, and there's nothing wrong with that," Susie agreed, backing up her boyfriend.
"And Clayton adapted to, I guess, the process and dating multiple women. He acted in a way that many Bachelors before have."
Susie revealed the couple now agrees that "there's nothing wrong with either way we went about the process" and they both made mistakes along the way.
"What we could have done better was just have more empathy for each other and be able to understand the other person's perspective while we were in that moment," Susie shared.
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"But our minds, we were living in different realities at that point, and we've since been able to come to the same reality. But when you're there, it's such a tough environment and we're just fortunate that we are able to get to the other side and be so happy and confident where we are now."
Clayton is in the process of moving to Virginia to be with Susie and give their romance a real shot after quitting his job in medical sales and selling his condo.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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