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'The Bachelorette' alum Tayshia Adams lashes out: You should applaud me for not settling for Zac Clark

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/06/2022

The Bachelorette alum Tayshia Adams has slammed the notion she took a "detour" from wanting marriage, arguing that people should be applauding her for not settling for Zac Clark.

Tayshia, who recently co-hosted two seasons of The Bachelorette and previously starred on the show's sixteenth season, took to Instagram on Thursday and posted a sexy photo of herself posing in a purple dress against a cream wall, and she captioned it, "Slow Down, Grab The Wall..."

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One of Tayshia's followers commented that Tayshia "[definitely] took a detour from the road" she had been on of "wanting to be married and starting a family," adding that it's "not for everyone" and so it's good Tayshia "realized [her] career is more important."

Tayshia fired back with a lengthy comment of her own and suggested that Zac, whom she announced her split from in November 2021, wasn't good enough for her in the process.

"Did I take a detour or am I just living and enjoying my life in its current season?" Tayshia replied.

"I still want marriage and to start a family more than anything so what I BELIEVE you meant in referring to what I 'realized' is actually -- waiting to be in a healthy supportive relationship while simultaneously being a successful woman; a cohesive unit, not one or the other."

Tayshia went on to defend the fact she had competed on Season 23 of The Bachelor starring Colton Underwood and starred on her own The Bachelorette edition for the right reasons.

"I think some of you fail to remember that I stated this at the very beginning of my journey. I want to build an empire, I want to go after my dreams and I want my partner to be supportive of that as they follow their own dreams as well," Tayshia continued in her post.

"I want a relationship where we cheer each other on. None of that has changed."

Tayshia proceeded to put the commenter in her place, adding, "So before you confuse the fact that I'm in the wrong for focusing on my career solo rather than with someone by my side and not 'wanting to be married and starting a family, which is not for everyone', (which is incredibly rude to say BTW)."

"Maybe applaud me for not settling, staying to true to myself, going after my dreams and working on myself in the interm to be the best version of me for the right person."

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The troll later apologized for miswording her post, saying she had been supportive of Tayshia from the start of her journey on the franchise and meant no disrespect or ill will, but Tayshia didn't respond.

Tayshia and Zac got engaged when her The Bachelorette season wrapped filming in August 2020. Their engagement aired on the Season 16 finale that aired on ABC in December 2020.

Tayshia's representative announced in late November 2021 that Zac and the former Bachelor Nation podcast host had decided to part ways and end their engagement, and Tayshia first publicly mentioned the split and called herself "heartbroken" while co-hosting The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All for Season 18, which aired in early December.

In late March, Tayshia told Us Weekly that she was "absolutely" in no rush to jump into the dating pool again following her difficult breakup with Zac.

In fact, Tayshia told the magazine of her dating life at the time, "It's pretty nonexistent for me right now."

"I really have no desire [to date]... Maybe [in] a year from now," she said, suggesting she's doing just fine on her own.

Tayshia -- who admitted she doesn't like dating apps and hadn't looked through her DMs from men on Instagram -- explained, "My main focus right now is myself, my career, my mental health, my happiness, my family, my friends and really just becoming my own [person], and I'm really happy with that."

But Tayshia knows what she wants, as she told Us that she hopes to one day find a man who is "strong, supportive, kind, ambitious, and empathetic."

For Zac's part, a source told Us in late February that he's also doing "fine" after his split from Tayshia and they've both been trying to move on with their lives.

"He hasn't started going on dates but is open to it," the source revealed.

The 36-year-old addiction specialist's friends have been "trying to help him move on" from Tayshia by pushing him to join an exclusive dating app like Raya.

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But Zac is allegedly reluctant to meet a new woman since he's a public figure now and his dating life will be splashed across headlines.

"He gets excited about the idea of dating again but has trust issues from being in the spotlight," the source shared.

"His biggest fear is getting close to someone, breaking up, and then that girl sharing with the world about their relationship."

Zac wants to "build that trust with his next partner," especially because his breakup with Tayshia was highly publicized late last year.

In the meantime, the marathon runner is focusing on his career and maintaining his sobriety.

"He's working on Release Recovery and has some upcoming projects in the works," the source said. "He's still very much sober and has been hanging out with friends in the city. He's been turning to friends and family for advice."

An insider also claimed earlier this year that Tayshia and Zac were "still in communication" because there were "some lingering matters" that hadn't been resolved yet, such as projects they had been working on together.

"It seems like there isn't closure yet," the insider alleged, adding however that there "isn't any bad blood between them."

Tayshia and Zac haven't revealed any details about their split, but Us reported late last year the former couple "couldn't fully commit to each other" due to their busy schedules and they "eventually realized it wasn't going to work and their relationship ran its course."

When Tayshia brought up her breakup on The Men Tell All for Michelle Young's The Bachelorette season last year, she called the time "really tough" and "very heavy" for her. She said she was still very much in love with Zac.

Rumors Tayshia and Zac had ended their engagement and decided to part ways first broke in mid-November.

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A source told Life & Style at the time that Tayshia and Zac were "on a break" after Tayshia had been spotted multiple times filming one of her former podcasts without her engagement ring earlier in the month.

"They're definitely taking some time apart to figure things out," a source told the magazine at the time. "It doesn't look good."

Tayshia's representative confirmed to People several days later, "Tayshia Adams and Zac Clark are no longer a couple."

The split came as a big surprise to fans considering Tayshia and Zac had put on a united front on November 7 when they ran the New York City Marathon together, and Zac gushed about his then-fiancee on Instagram the following day.

Zac called the world "a better place" with Tayshia in it and praised her "humility and courage" as well as "heroic" run with chronic knee and back pain.

And ahead of the big race, Zac told People that he was excited things were about to calm down for Tayshia and himself.

"We're really looking forward to kicking back after we get done and really spending some time here in New York," Zac said.

"With our schedules and how everything's worked out, we're just super excited to take advantage of what's here and eat some good food and explore a little bit and make sure that she really feels like she knows New York."

Following their televised engagement in 2020, Tayshia decided to move to New York City to be with her man, but she also kept her own place in California.

In a February 2021 interview with Marie Claire, the previously-divorced The Bachelorette star revealed she had decided to keep her own place "for peace of mind" since this is "not [her] first rodeo."

Tayshia co-hosted The Bachelorette's seventeenth and eighteenth seasons starring Katie Thurston and Michelle, respectively.

Prior to starring on The Bachelorette 16 in 2020, Tayshia competed on The Bachelor's 23rd season, which aired in early 2019.