Bachelor Nation has reacted strongly to Clayton Echard and Susie Evans' explosive breakup that aired on Tuesday night's episode of The Bachelor by taking Susie's side.
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Clayton essentially beat Susie -- the woman he claimed to be "the most in love with" of his Final 3 bachelorettes -- to the punch and determined he was "done" with her during their Fantasy-Suite date in Iceland once she expressed how she couldn't see herself moving forward in the process due to the fact he had been willing to jeopardize their strong relationship by giving himself away to two other women.
Clayton scolded Susie for not forgiving him and also for not telling him about her dealbreaker regarding sex sooner, and yelled about how she had "invalidated" everything about their relationship through her actions.
"I don't even know who I'm looking at anymore... You just dropped a bombshell on me and I don't agree with -- at all -- how you went about this. I think it's B-S, and just, we're done. I'm done... Anything you say to me from this point [on] doesn't matter," Clayton told Susie.
Clayton apologized for raising his voice, saying it was "out of character" for him, and Susie cried about how she had "ruined" the relationship and was "genuinely so sorry" for hurting him and not handling the situation better.
Social media has since been exploding with comments about how Clayton gaslighted Susie and blamed her for his own mistakes that led to the demise of their relationship, and according to posts compiled by Us Weekly, most The Bachelor and The Bachelorette alums appear to agree with the criticism.
The Bachelor 26 bachelorette Sierra Jackson tweeted that she was "sick to [her] stomach" watching Clayton and Susie's argument. She believed Clayton was definitely "gaslighting" Susie.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
"Have your limits, have your boundaries!" Sierra wrote. "You're allowed to change your mind. Happy International Women's day!"
Fellow Season 26 bachelorette Elizabeth Corrigan posted a screenshot of Clayton from the episode and wrote, "POV: looking up gaslighting in the dictionary."
And their The Bachelor castmate Marlena Wesh exclaimed, "Oh. No. he. DID NOT!"
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Season 20 The Bachelor star Ben Higgins -- who told both Lauren Bushnell and JoJo Fletcher that he loved them during his season -- wrote on social media, "Clayton I'll hold your beer but before I do, can I just tell you something I wish I would have heard 'stop, don't do it...be better.'"
Bachelor in Paradise 7 alum Joe Amabile apparently compared Susie and Clayton's conversation about sex to the one Hannah Brown had with Luke Parker on The Bachelorette's fifteenth season.
"I just want Susie to say you had sex and Jesus still loves you," Joe tweeted.
And Season 21 The Bachelor star Nick Viall, who asked fans to stop sending Clayton nasty messages earlier this year, tweeted, "Susie tried to express her feelings while trying to empathize with Clayton's POV."
"Clayton expressed his feelings to Susie by being a dick," he added.
Nick didn't think Clayton was gaslighting Susie, but he did say Clayton was "being [an] ass" for not acknowledging "the other person's point of view."
Former The Bachelorette host Kaitlyn Bristowe's fiance Jason Tartick also had Susie's back.
"DONT blame her CLAYTON," Jason wrote on Twitter before sharing an edited photo of Clayton reading his book, The Restart Roadmap. "Somebody needs a MASSIVE Restart, this copy is on me, Clayton!"
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Amanda Stanton, who had her heart broken on The Bachelor franchise multiple times, tweeted the following: "Just a friendly reminder to make sure to tell your significant others that you wouldn't be ok with them sleeping with other women. Otherwise they won't know better."
The Bachelorette alum Tanner Tolbert joked, "Clayton went from the nice (although boring) guy ALL season long to a raging a--hole right before our eyes."
In a separate post, Tanner poked fun at how "mean Clayton is way better TV than nice Clayton."
Lauren Bushnell wrote on her Instagram Story, "Go away Clayton. These guys really do forget it's not all about them and their journey smh."
And other former cast members criticized Clayton for playing the victim and having an outrageous reaction to Susie's heartbreak over his Fantasy-Suite date decisions.
Meanwhile, Susie posted a TikTok video Tuesday on Instagram of herself sitting on the beach. Tai Verdes song "A-O-K" was playing in the background, suggesting Susie is going to be just fine.
After Clayton walked Susie out during their Fantasy Suite date on Tuesday night's episode, he said, "Because of my faith, I believe everything happens for a reason... At some point, I'll end up finding somebody who will actually stick through it and will understand me for who I am and will fight for me as much as I fight for them."
Clayton concluded, "I thought you were that person and you're not that person. This is how it's supposed to end, and I'm done."
Susie proceeded to cry in her final words, "Oh my God. I just thought he would've had more compassion for me in the end, to be honest. Regardless of what kind of love [we had] at this point, I just thought we would've been better at getting through that conversation kindly."
The Bachelor is set to air a two-night finale event of Season 26 next week on ABC.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
