The Bachelor bachelorette Elizabeth Corrigan felt distressed and disappointed when Clayton Echard eliminated her in favor of Shanae Ankney on The Bachelor's 26th season, but she's now standing up for Clayton.

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"It's come to my attention that some of you are sending [Clayton] hate messages. I realize you want to support me and I appreciate that," Elizabeth wrote to her followers Tuesday night on Instagram Story.

"But please -- we are here to rise above not stoop to," she insisted. "Redirect that anger as love and support for the other girls."

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Elizabeth even defended Shanae against trolls by adding, "Everyone, EVERYONE'S mental health matters. Yes, even Shanae's."

After apparently receiving backlash from Bachelor Nation for denying Elizabeth a rose on his season, Clayton took to Instagram and Twitter on Monday night to issue a public apology.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth, for what you're going through. I wish I could have seen what was happening when I wasn't there," Clayton wrote.

"I obviously knew y'all weren't in a good place with each other, but I thought at the time that it was, solely, petty drama. I would have sent Shanae home immediately for making fun of you for being neurodivergent, had I known."

Clayton was referring to how Shanae had mocked and expressed skepticism over Elizabeth's battle with ADHD, which she had been diagnosed with in the first grade.

When Shanae felt ignored by Elizabeth in a group setting and called her "fake" and "two-faced" as a result, Elizabeth tried to explain how it's difficult for her to process multiple auditory inputs at once and she never meant to make Shanae feel left out.

Clayton also told The Bachelor fans earlier this week that watching Season 26 back "hasn't been fun" because he's seeing "the damage" he caused and "the repercussions" from his decisions.

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Clayton promised he's learning from his mistakes and wants to come out of this experience a better man, and he reminded everyone that "mental health matters," including his own.
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Elizabeth also claimed Tuesday on Instagram that she was tormented, attacked, bullied, gaslighted, physically abused, and not being believed in the house.

During a subsequent Q&A session on her Instagram Story, Elizabeth also explained why she lied to Clayton about not being in the hot tub when Shanae walked outside to serve the girls shrimp.

Elizabeth, who told Clayton she had been inside the house during Shanae's shrimp offering, reiterated in her Instagram Story how she has sensory-processing issues and didn't hear Shanae because she had been focused on other women around her in the hot tub.

Elizabeth also confirmed she took back the photo of her great grandparents she had given Clayton to hold onto -- and that she hasn't spoken to Shanae at all since leaving the show.

When asked if she's been in contact with Shanae, Elizabeth firmly replied, "Hell no!"

While fans watched all the drama between Shanae and Elizabeth go down on Monday night's The Bachelor episode, Clayton tweeted, "I'm looking forward to having an open and honest discussion at [The Women Tell All] with what all happened."

"It's important to hold people accountable, including myself. #TheBachelor," he added.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)  

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Elizabeth replied to Clayton's tweet, "I'm ready."

Many fans are asking for "justice for Elizabeth," but Shanae has given no public apology or shown any signs of remorse. Instead, Shanae posted lighthearted video clips of shrimp and herself dancing in her "The Bachelor Bowl" jersey while watching the latest episode.

Shanae and Elizabeth's feud ran through multiple episodes of The Bachelor's 26th season.

Tension mounted when Shanae claimed she had cooked shrimp for the girls and no one wanted any. Shanae believed Elizabeth -- who allegedly did not acknowledge Shanae's presence while she was sitting in a hot tub -- had turned everyone against her.

Although Elizabeth attempted to bury the hatchet with Shanae multiple times and respectfully move on from the drama, Shanae told Clayton that Elizabeth was a "bully" and "a liar" and had created a toxic environment.

After Clayton confronted both women and watched them bicker over shrimp, he decided to give Shanae a rose at the third Rose Ceremony of the season and eliminate Elizabeth, who had spent most of her time with Clayton defending herself.

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Elizabeth said during a recent appearance on "Click Bait with Bachelor Nation" that Shanae began targeting her during a group date hosted by ZIWE, when Elizabeth was able to sit next to Clayton for a game of truths.

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.