'The Bachelor' winner Susie Evans: Clayton Echard and I fought about everything, I didn't feel accepted for who I am

The Bachelor alum Susie Evans has claimed she and Clayton Echard fought way too much when they were together and he didn't fully accept her for who she is.


Susie shared during a recent episode of the "Bachelor Rush Hour With Dave Neal" podcast that she and Clayton "tried" to make it work but had a "mutual" breakup and announced their split in September 2022.

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"We truly are so different, Clayton and I -- so different. We both agreed that I have never fought or argued with somebody as much as I fought and argued with him, and he felt the same about me," Susie revealed.

"He's only had one ex, and it was back in college. And he was like, 'I never fought with her like I fight with you.' And I was like, 'Same.' I am not a confrontational person, but we butted heads on EVERYTHING!"


Susie explained that she and Clayton had "a really tough balance" in their relationship because while they "loved each other so much" -- and she "could see all the good in him" and they had "all this fun together" -- they simply didn't see eye-to-eye.

"We fundamentally disagreed about almost everything... I think I didn't think I felt completely accepted for who I was [by him], to be honest. We're so different!" Susie noted.

Susie went on to share a story about Clayton's perspective on dating when he played college football.

"One time he was like, 'Dating you, I realized... I used to think I was the best boyfriend because the example of the men around me -- he was on a D1 football team -- all the guys would go out and cheat on their girlfriends, and I never cheated. So I thought I was the best boyfriend,'" Susie said.

Susie laughed about how the bar is set so low for athletes, and she recalled, "And I was like, 'That is the minimum! That doesn't make you a good boyfriend, that makes you a decent human being! That's the standard!' And he was like, 'I know, I know... but with you I realized your expectations are high.'"


Susie said Clayton had commented on how she cared about his morals, character and ability to be a leader -- much more than just expecting faithfulness out of him.

And Susie said she and Clayton had "a different view" of what they want out of life.

"I never imagined a traditional life for myself. I do want children, like, I want a family eventually -- and soon, I think, in the next five years hopefully. But I never expected for me or my husband to clock in for a 9-5 [job], clock out, and live for the weekends," Susie shared.

"That's not my vibe at all," she added. "I want my life to be a creative journey and an adventure. I've always lived like that."

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The wedding videographer and social media influencer pointed out how "a big part of" her disconnect with Clayton was because he has an analytical mind and she has a more creative one.

"I don't think the relationship was good for my mental health," Susie admitted, adding how they felt "a lot of pressure" from the outside world.

Susie admitted while she and Clayton are currently "friends," they "probably won't be friendly forever."

But Susie is clearly in a good headspace and moving on from her split with Clayton. She recently revealed on TikTok that she went on one of the best first dates of her life with a man whom she had met on Hinge.

And before that, Susie said she tested out Raya but walked away feeling like most of the people on there were "clout chasers."


Susie also playfully revealed in late April that she had yet to experience a "walk of shame" since breaking up with Clayton and moving to Los Angeles.

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."

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

Susie explained during a March episode of "The Viall Files" podcast that The Bachelor producers had influenced how she felt about Clayton during filming because he was 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 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 had emphasized how strong her connection was with Clayton by convincing her that the former medical sales representative and football player had a firm grasp of her core values and goals.

"[With] these things, I was like, 'How does he know me so well?' It's like, no, these are people in his ear... When we come out of there, I [was] like, 'Wait, you don't know anything about my character. You don't know anything about who I am,'" Susie said.

For his part, Clayton told Joe Amabile on the "Click Bait with Bachelor Nation" podcast earlier this month how he was dating a local woman in Scottsdale for over a month and really liked her.

Clayton also confessed no women from Bachelor Nation have reached out to him or slid into his DMs.

"I don't know if there's a giant red flag waving above my head, but no one [is interested]," Clayton said with a laugh, adding how his DMs "have been dry."

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski