The Bachelorette co-host Tayshia Adams has dished on the reported new The Bachelor star Clayton Echard and shared whether he'll make a good lead.

ADVERTISEMENT
Clayton, a 28-year-old orthopedic sales representative and former college football player, confirmed he'll be The Bachelor's Season 26 star when he spoke to a crowd of people while being filmed in his hometown of Eureka, MO, last week.

RELATED LINK: MICHELLE YOUNG'S 'THE BACHELORETTE' SEASON 18 BACHELORS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED -- MEET THE MEN! (PHOTOS)

Clayton told fans he's "excited" about the opportunity to look for his "person" but also "very nervous" at the same time, according to St. Louis' Fox affiliate.

"If it were to be him, truthfully, he was very personable," Tayshia told Entertainment Tonight after production wrapped on Michelle Young's Fall 2021 season of The Bachelorette.

Tayshia and her fellow The Bachelorette co-host Kaitlyn Bristowe presumably got to know Clayton while filming the show's eighteenth season, which premieres Tuesday, October 19 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.

"He seems super fun," Tayshia revealed. "I think he'd be a great Bachelor."

But ABC has yet to officially announce Clayton as the star of the next The Bachelor season, which will likely debut in early January 2022.

In fact, ABC hasn't even released the official cast of Michelle's upcoming The Bachelorette season yet.

Back in July, the network only revealed 35 potential suitors who may compete for Michelle's roses, and Clayton was on that list.

"He was someone that really had fun with all of the dates," Tayshia said. "And so, I think if it is him, you're in for a little treat."

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

Last week, photos had leaked of Clayton appearing to film a promo shoot with a camera crew in his hometown.
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!

And hours later, The Bachelor creator and executive producer Mike Fleiss hinted at Clayton's participation and that he was ABC's choice for the franchise's next leading man.

Mike tweeted on September 15, "Major Announcement!!! Your new #TheBachelor is a great guy from Michelle's season of #TheBachelorette. Can't wait for you to meet him!"

Mike proceeded to write on Twitter, "Another Major Announcement!!! His first name starts with the letter 'C.' #TheBachelor."

There are only three other men with "C" names on Michelle's The Bachelorette season, which finished taping less than two weeks ago.

According to insiders, producers fell in love with Clayton's "story" during Michelle's The Bachelorette season and so he rose to the top of their potential-next Bachelor list, Variety reported.

A source also told Us Weekly that Clayton "stood out right off the bat" to The Bachelorette producers while filming Season 18 of the series.

"Producers ended up going with him because they believed he was the best fit for the role. They wanted to switch things up and go with someone new and someone who hasn't been in the spotlight yet," the source explained.

"The mystery makes it more exciting for the prospective contestants. The crew found out about it last minute. The decision wasn't even made until about a week prior to filming his intro."

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

Before producers settled on Clayton, Katie Thurston's The Bachelorette suitors Andrew Spencer, Michael Allio and Greg Grippo were also reportedly considered for the role as well as Hannah Brown's The Bachelorette runner-up Tyler Cameron and men currently appearing on Season 7 of Bachelor in Paradise.

As far as whether Tayshia and Kaitlyn will return to host The Bachelor, she told ET, "Fingers crossed for anything, but I don't know yet."

"We'll see... I wanna help everybody out. Honestly, I love hosting. I feel like it's been such a fun position to be in," she continued.

"Nobody really knows the journey like us Bachelorettes, so in order to get through it confidently I feel like our support and our perspectives have really helped."

In addition, Tayshia teased of Michelle's stint on The Bachelorette, "There's a lot of highs and lows, but all good things."

"She definitely leaned into her heart and put it out on the line. That's all you can ask for  and she did just that," Tayshia concluded.

Before co-hosting The Bachelorette, Tayshia competed for Colton Underwood's heart on The Bachelor's 23rd season and also starred as the Bachelorette on the show's sixteenth season last year after Clare Crawley.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!
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.