Sucks to suck, Clayton Echard! But you were so s**tty in your run on the reality TV juggernaut this season, we actually appreciate you for breathing new life into The Bachelorette now!
Just saying!
If you haven’t been paying attention to The Bachelor this season, you’ve been missing a s**t show! And now is probably a good time to drop a SPOILER ALERT in here, too, because we’re about to jump into Tuesday’s night’s airing of the second-half of the season finale!
Here we go…
Related: ‘Bachelor’ Alum Colton Underwood Is Doomed! Here’s Why!
The ep. kicked off with Clayton deciding to pull an audacious double move: attempt to win back Susie Evans‘ love while simultaneously (?!) and heartlessly dumping finalists Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia in the same swift act! WTF??
Things turned testy in Iceland after host Jesse Palmer talked to Susie, who was marooned in a hotel in Reykjavík away from Echard. Palmer convinced Evans to have a talk with Clayton, and the series lead then proceeded to apologize profusely and bizarrely while groveling to win back her heart:
“The second you walked out, I lost everything.”
Uh-huh. Sure, pal. This sentiment only came out following Clayton working overtime to keep Gabby and Rachel (who he both said “I love you” to AND slept with) in Iceland after Susie had walked out on him the first time! So why go after the other two in such a way if Susie was the one he wanted all along?!
Speaking of Gabby and Rachel, they got the worst part of all this when Echard opted to break up with the friends AT THE SAME TIME!!! Sitting the duo down on a couch in the Scandinavian country, Clayton coolly stated:
“Through everything that I’ve done, I’ve done what I thought was best and followed my heart. But I realize that I’ve caused so much pain and I wish that I could take it all back. You know I absolutely saw a future with you both and told you that I love you and I meant all of that. But I realized it’s not feasibly possible for me to be in love with three women like I said I was.”
Trying to play it off as *mature* (eye roll), Clayton then told the pair he hoped they could one day forgive him! Gabby wasn’t having any of his s**t, thankfully, and she went in on him for it:
“I’m pissed because I spent the last two days away from my family and my friends who actually give a s**t about me and you don’t. I can’t believe anything you say, not one thing. You asked me to stay because you were pissed and your pride was hurt because Susie left.”
Amen, girl!
Sadly, where Gabby’s anger was empowering (and correct!), Rachel’s reaction was a lot more heartbreaking. With tears streaming down her face, the Florida-based pilot recalled her intimate Fantasy Suite date with Clayton, and emotionally explained just what a mistake he was making:
“I promise when you look back at this, this is going to haunt you, the fact that you let me go. … Are you really putting me in this car right now?”
Jeez…
During the finale, both Gabby and Rachel eventually got their chance to speak out directly to their ex. Opening up on the unwanted and over-the-top competition she felt Echard and the show’s producers had created between the women, Gabby focused on her individuality both before and after the dual breakup. She told the leading man:
“I don’t have the same needs as Susie. I’m not Susie, and neither is Rachel. So you have to treat us as individuals. … Watching it back, everything is so muddled, and you are clearly pitting us against each other. It really seems like a competition, which I had expressed to you that I didn’t want to be a part of.”
OK, uhhh, the competition is kind of exactly the point of the show?! Like, we get it, and we’re NOT saying Clayton isn’t a s**tty person for breaking up with Gabby and Rachel at the same time! But come on! The rat race towards reality romance is literally the exact thing you sign up for when you go on the show!
Rachel was more personal with her criticism of Clayton, delivering her displeasure at the “disrespect” he showed her and Gabby by dumping them at the same time. She said:
“It was almost as if you cast us aside as quickly as you could to [get to] the person you loved the most. … You told me that I was the first person that you said ‘I love you’ to in six years. I had no reason to ever doubt you. So did you tell me that you were in love with me because you wanted to sleep with me?”
Oof! Good for her, though, in asking the tough questions. It just can’t be easy… especially since Clayton did end up getting together with Susie AFTER she denied his finale rose. They are happily together as boyfriend and girlfriend and will soon be living in the same state.
BTW, Palmer did actually give the world some very interesting Bachelor Nation news in a follow-up on Tuesday night: there will be TWO Bachelorette leads next season!
The host explained both Gabby and Rachel will be the focal points. That’ll surely make the competition aspects of the whole series twice as interesting, right?! Especially considering the gals appear to have such a close friendship… For now…
Anyways, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it next season — no other deets have been released, but we are curious if they’ll be competing for the same group of men! In the meantime, what do U make of Clayton’s long, strange run on The Bachelor this time around, Perezcious readers??
Sound OFF with your take on the whole thing down in the comments (below)!
[Image via ABC]
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