The Bachelor alum Clayton Echard has revealed the latest on his dating life now that he's a single man again after his split with Susie Evans.
|
ADVERTISEMENT
|
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
"I'm not looking to date right now. I'm not mentally healed," the former medical sales representative and football player told E! News.
"I can't even fathom seeing anybody in that light right now. And so, I think I'm really just taking this time to focus on myself."
Clayton, who previously said on the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe" podcast that he was struggling with "self-identity" after his rocky and highly-scrutinized The Bachelor stint, suggested that he needs to work on himself and learn to love himself before he can be happy in a relationship with a woman.
"Yeah, if I'm not healed, then I can't allow anybody else to be a part of my life," Clayton explained.
Clayton said he's taking the time to focus on himself, especially since there was "a lot of pain" from that whole experience of being the Bachelor and juggling relationships with multiple women, including his other Final 3 bachelorettes Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia.
"I think, for me, I'd be better off just wiping the slate clean. And if I do decide to date moving forward, I'll do it with somebody who I don't have any prior ties to something that was so emotionally charged and really brought a lot of painful feelings with it," Clayton explained.
Clayton and Susie also hinted during their recent joint podcast appearance how there's a chance they may reconcile and get back together in the future.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)
However, Clayton told E! News the couple hasn't made each other any "promises" about the future.
"We obviously will always respect and have a love for each other, and I think that's a really great place to be where it's not a hostile ex situation," the Season 26 The Bachelor star said.
FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!
Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!
"It's more of like we're very loving and caring, but we just want what's best for each other and who knows what that looks like?"
Clayton explained how he's currently focusing on himself and giving children lectures about anxiety, depression and body dysmorphia, which are conditions he's battled in life. Clayton even admitted to having had suicidal thoughts while The Bachelor was airing from January through March.
Clayton also noted how he's turned to therapy, exercise and journaling to better himself and grow stronger as an individual during this challenging time.
The Bachelor fans began to suspect there was trouble in paradise between Clayton and Susie in August, when Clayton revealed on an episode of Amanda Hirsch's "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast that the pair had decided to stop living together planned to move to different states to pursue their passions.
Clayton -- who had moved to Virginia Beach to be with Susie after The Bachelor -- chose Scottsdale, AZ, as his new home, and the wedding videographer relocated to Los Angeles, CA.
"It's really hard because when we first broke up... my first initial feeling was, like, I felt abandoned -- that was my first feeling," Clayton admitted on "Off the Vine" last week.
"I was like, 'We're just going to end this.' I was upset. I didn't even want to look in her direction because I was like: If I look at you, the hurt is gonna tear me apart."
Clayton and Susie explained how they broke up because neither person felt stable or fully emotionally supported in the relationship due to their insecurities and outside pressures.
ADVERTISEMENT
Clayton shared how it felt nearly impossible to pour into his relationship with Susie when he didn't know what he wants out of life and where his future is going.
The couple also confirmed how dealing with Bachelor-Nation backlash was a big factor in why they had issues and ultimately parted ways.
"I was trying to figure out what my next step was [and] I started questioning who I was because of all the negativity," Clayton said.
He added, "I started to believe some of what was being said about me. And I now look back at it and realize, like, I couldn't be that stable, secure man that I needed to be to really be able to give my all in a relationship."
Clayton claimed he had received death threats and felt the need to rehab his image and please others, all the while trying to handle problems in his relationship, such as being accused of cheating on Susie.
When Susie and Clayton announced their breakup in a September 23 statement, they wrote, "We stand in support of each other and hope to see the other go on to find happiness and healing. Although Claysie is no more, we hope that our communities can support us individually as we move forward with love and respect for each other."
And out of respect for each other, Susie and Clayton chose to keep some of their issues to themselves.
"There are things private to us that we will probably never talk about... and I think that's healthy and protects our mental health and what we have struggled with... We want to respect each other's boundaries," Susie said on "Off the Vine."
On The Bachelor's 26th season, Susie quit before her overnight Fantasy Suite date with Clayton, only to return to the show at the Final Rose Ceremony to reject the former medical sales representative's final rose.
Susie was upset Clayton had expressed his love to -- and slept with -- two other women, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, and Susie was convinced during the show that Clayton wasn't her person and they weren't meant to be.
However, Susie reached out to Clayton post-filming seeking some answers, and the pair reconciled. They later put on a united front during the live March taping of After the Final Rose, and then Clayton moved to Virginia Beach to live with Susie.
"We want everyone to support both of us and not be on teams," Susie told Kaitlyn Bristowe on her podcast, later adding, "I think I'm going to walk away with better communication and also knowing what I need... more clarity for myself."
ADVERTISEMENT
Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
