The Bachelor alum Clayton Echard isn't backing down after Gabby Windey scolded him for exploiting her sex life and humiliating her on TV.
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Gabby fired back on TikTok, suggesting she doesn't owe the "straight, white man" an apology because of how he had treated her on The Bachelor's 26th season, and now Clayton is punching back.
Clayton uploaded another Instagram video and told Gabby, "It's disappointing to see that this is the route you're choosing to go, essentially saying it's justified to make fun of someone's physical appearance, to attack a passion of theirs that's changed their life IF they hurt you in the past."
"So you're teaching your audience to be vengeful, to not forgive. And I don't agree with that," Clayton continued.
"You have every right to be upset with me and what I did in the show."
Clayton was seemingly referring to his pre-Rose Ceremony announcement he had slept with both Gabby and Rachel Recchia in the Fantasy Suites on The Bachelor's 26th season. Clayton also expressed his love for Gabby, Rachel and Susie.
Clayton received backlash for dragging Gabby and Rachel further in the process, only to brutally dump them on-camera because he realized he was the "most" in love with Susie. (Clayton and Susie began dating in the real world after filming, but they eventually split).
"I've done everything in my power to apologize," Clayton argued in his rant.
"I've taken accountability time and time again. I've reached out multiple times and extended the olive branch and you want nothing to do with me."
Clayton went on to share some of his alleged DMs with Gabby in which he apologized for all the pain he caused her and expressed regret for not being more empathetic of her situation.
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Clayton appeared to take accountability for putting his ego first by defending himself and trying to fix the public perception of him as The Bachelor aired in 2022 instead of caring more about her feelings.
"I'm sorry for dragging you through what I did," he wrote in part, according to the alleged DMs.
Gabby allegedly responded with a brief message about how she had a "busy week" ahead of her.
Clayton therefore shared in his April 9 video, "Gabby, you don't ever have to forgive me if you don't want to. But, continually bringing me [up] three-and-a-half years later, like, it's unnecessary!"
Clayton insisted he's been doing his "own thing" and dealing with his "own drama" over the past few years, which included being wrongfully accused in a paternity scandal.
"False accusations after false accusations -- and then you're just doing a pile-on effect, okay?" Clayton vented.
"I think I have every right to be upset with what you said because imagine if the roles were reversed! Imagine if I made fun of your physical looks. Imagine if I made fun of your passions. There would be an uprise online, as there should be and that's why this is happening."
Clayton firmly stated, "It's not okay, Gabby, that you can just attack me, okay? It's bullying. I wish we could've done this in private."
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"But you were a [Bachelorette] lead once, Gabby. You know. You know! So stop with this nonsense. You know I couldn't have an off-camera conversation. You know that I can't just orchestrate that as a lead," Clayton said with frustration in his voice.
"Everything, when we signed the contract, said that it had to be on-camera, minus Fantasy Suites. I wanted to have a conversation with [Susie Evans] off-camera. I begged [producers], but they wouldn't allow it to happen."
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Clayton said using the word "intimacy" was his attempt to protect her because that vague word can mean many different things, from kissing to sex to emotional intimacy.
"I did everything in my power. I tried. But at the end of the day, you're not going to agree with what I did, that's fine," Clayton noted.
"But that does not give you the right -- because of what I did three-and-a-half years ago -- for you to attack my physical appearance and what I'm doing today. It's wrong, Gabby. Do better."
Clayton captioned his Instagram post, "In response to Gabby's TikTok... Attacking someone's looks and their hobbies is never ok, especially years later after they've taken accountability & apologized multiple times for their actions. But if you want to continue to be vengeful, you will. Just know that I won't stand for it anymore."
In Gabby's April 8 TikTok video, she blasted Clayton and said, "Oh, that's rich. It's rich coming from a man who exploited my sexual life on TV without me knowing."
"You were intimate with 'the both of us' you said on national TV in front of millions without having a conversation with me or the other woman first," she elaborated.
"So, you humiliated us in front of each other and in front of everybody watching the TV show."
Gabby said while "people can infer" that sex happens in the Fantasy Suites, "nothing has been said so explicitly" on The Bachelor franchise before -- until Clayton's season.
"Those kinds of details should come from a woman," Gabby insisted. "Oh, I'm a mean girl? As a straight, white man, maybe you should do better with your power."
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Gabby recently won Dancing with the Stars as well as Season 3 of The Traitors, and she just married her partner Robby Hoffman earlier this year.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
