WEBVTT - Bachelor Countdown Day 3: Clayton Echard 0:00:01.200 --> 0:00:04.600 This is that Ben and Nashley I Almost Famous podcast 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:06.279 Bachelor Countdown. 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:09.760 Hello, everyone, welcome to the Almost Famous Podcast. 0:00:09.800 --> 0:00:13.720 Today we are continuing our series the Countdown to Grant 0:00:13.760 --> 0:00:18.239 season with a whole bunch of bachelors. Today we have 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:23.959 Clayton Eckert. Clayton is well known for his season that 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:26.840 premiered on January third, twenty twenty. 0:00:26.560 --> 0:00:30.240 Two, and for saying I love you to three women. 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:33.480 Somebody's gotta tap me somebody. 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.360 I was gonna say, somebody's got to make Ben feel better. 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:43.159 Yeah, welcome, thank you? 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:44.920 Now for women? 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:49.159 How about that for a wild for be a wild accomplishment? 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:51.800 Five? You just just go for a record out a 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:52.920 lot of can't be beaten? 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:55.440 Could you imagine that there is possibly like a bachelor 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:57.640 who had never seen the show and then didn't know 0:00:57.680 --> 0:00:59.840 that that was like a faux pa and he did 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:01.440 end up saying I love you to like. 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:07.919 Every drop and love bombs everywhere. Yeah, it seems healthy, right, Hey, Clayton, 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:09.520 I want to start out with something that's going to 0:01:09.600 --> 0:01:11.560 be boring to every listener, so I'm not gonna spend 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.960 a lot of time on it. I think I saw 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:22.920 an Instagram video was that your golf swing like last week, I. 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.400 Go, oh, no, no, no, that was my youngest brothers, 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:28.120 but my swings no better. I couldn't put myself on 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.120 video because I actually twisted my ankle dancing next to 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:34.800 the golf court or golf cart, so I couldn't. I 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:36.840 couldn't end up playing golf the rest of the day. 0:01:36.880 --> 0:01:39.759 So that's why that was not me. But it runs 0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:41.200 in the family. We're all bad golfers. 0:01:41.240 --> 0:01:45.160 Goodness, man, that was wild. They like hurt like he took. 0:01:45.240 --> 0:01:48.840 He took about three three feet of dirt behind the 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:51.520 ball like it. You have to be a strong boy 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.280 to even make contact with the ball at that point. 0:01:54.600 --> 0:01:56.120 Yeah, I'll give him credit. I mean he's strong, but 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:58.080 he also is cutting grass all day on the court. 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:01.520 Of course you can. I don't play golf, it's a 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:02.240 golf course. 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:06.400 Explain. 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:10.919 That is how Ben warms you up for the questions 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:15.959 to come, you know, because we have we got juicy 0:02:16.040 --> 0:02:19.280 stuff to ask you about each stuff you're probably maybe 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:20.520 tired of talking about. 0:02:20.680 --> 0:02:24.400 But man too, were talking to juicy not to ask. 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:28.040 Okay, so let's start out by talking about your paternity 0:02:28.080 --> 0:02:30.640 test and all of that drama that went down over. 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:33.160 Was it the course of almost two years? 0:02:33.520 --> 0:02:37.160 Two years? Yeah, the anniversary of it. Yeah, it's been 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:40.920 a pain in the you know what. But we're on 0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:44.000 the right track now. She's getting looked at by the 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:47.880 County Attorney for prosecution and so hopefully there's an end 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:51.560 in sight. But the court is a little slow and 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:54.160 it's procedures, which is honestly fine. They're doing the research. 0:02:54.240 --> 0:02:58.079 But yeah, that was now what I anticipated coming off 0:02:58.120 --> 0:03:02.480 TV and having to deal with Certainly, I've learned a 0:03:02.480 --> 0:03:06.160 lot about being more protective of my energy and trying 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:07.960 to be just just stay out of the drama. But 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:10.400 somehow the drama finds me a lot. 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.520 Well, Clayton, can you give a quick little recap of 0:03:13.560 --> 0:03:16.720 what happened to you with this woman and then what 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:18.720 the current situation that you're waiting on is. 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:25.400 Yeah, so I had been spent a night with this woman, 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:29.880 although there was no sexual intercourse. This woman then wanted 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:33.359 to date me. I said, no, that's not going to happen. 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.320 She then did not take that well, ended up eleven 0:03:37.400 --> 0:03:40.640 days later saying she was pregnant. First it was one child, 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:43.880 then it became twins. Then she wouldn't do any of 0:03:43.920 --> 0:03:48.560 the tests, so I couldn't prove that she wasn't pregnant 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:51.760 at all. Finally, she went public to try to defame me. 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:54.400 Her name then got out there. I then decided to 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.520 push everything online to hold her accountable since she wouldn't 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:01.360 She wasn't giving me anything behind the scenes, so I 0:04:01.400 --> 0:04:05.960 put it online to hold her accountable. Upon her releasing 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:09.280 it to the public, that's when her name got out there, 0:04:09.320 --> 0:04:11.560 and then I started getting messages from people saying that 0:04:11.600 --> 0:04:14.080 I wasn't the only man that she had done this too. 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:17.119 Now we're at four or five other men that she's 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:19.480 done this in the past, two as far back as 0:04:19.520 --> 0:04:22.839 twenty sixteen. We're finding it might be even earlier than that. 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:27.080 So she is a professional con woman. Not only that, 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:30.840 her family's involved in it, so they're all complicit in 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:35.400 her ways. And so yeah, through all of this we 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:40.839 went to trial. I had the lawyer from the previous victim, 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:43.800 who then helped me win the case, prove that she 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:46.159 was never pregnant with my child, that she had made 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:46.719 the whole thing up. 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:48.440 So we ever pregnant in general? 0:04:49.200 --> 0:04:52.560 No, yeah, no, she was One of my cases end 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:54.679 up being live streamed, which is a blessing in disguise. 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:57.800 I self represented because I just bought a house. I 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:00.400 didn't lawyers are expensive, and so I was like, oh, 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:02.120 this will be easy to prove that she's not pregnant. 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:03.880 She just has to provide evidence. So I went in 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:06.760 self represented, came out of the case. Didn't realize it 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:08.880 was live stream. But on that live stream, why I 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:12.760 wasn't paying attention. She was shifting this fake pregnancy bump around. 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:16.120 So she bought one of those fake belly bumps, and 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:19.520 thankfully that was online and people caught it, and that 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:22.040 was the beginning of the end for her as far 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:25.280 as people realizing that she was full of you know what, 0:05:25.760 --> 0:05:29.320 and so we from there. Yeah, I mean, just kept 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.000 going back into court and thankfully had a ruling on 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:36.640 back in June or July, Kimmember, which month. But it's 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:39.040 essentially given me an order of an opportunity. So now 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:41.520 she can't claim she's not supposed to be claiming she's 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.800 pregnant with my kids or or ever was, because I 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:47.400 could sue her still in debating it, I have every 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.560 right to sue her for defamation, but we're just hoping 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:54.160 that the county attorney prosecutes her. They've been investigating her 0:05:54.200 --> 0:05:57.360 since June, so they're still actively doing so. 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:02.159 I don't, like, I don't know if this is I 0:06:02.160 --> 0:06:05.200 don't want to laugh because this is just so crazy, 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:07.560 like that in moments where this like I can't even 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:11.200 process this story, like I almost want to be like, 0:06:11.279 --> 0:06:15.160 you're kidding, like not this is hilarious, but like it 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:16.520 doesn't sound real. 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:19.000 No, no, and no. But that was that was a 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:23.680 problem so unbelievable that people almost didn't believe me out 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:25.840 the gate because like, why would this woman make this up? 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:28.160 This is ridiculous, and she's got to come with receipts, 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:30.440 like and that's what we all thought. And I mean 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:32.160 there was a point where, even though I didn't believe her, 0:06:32.200 --> 0:06:34.280 I thought, either I'm dealing with the craziest woman I've 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:37.520 ever met, or this girl's telling the truth. And it 0:06:37.600 --> 0:06:39.760 was the craziest woman I've ever met. But I like 0:06:40.040 --> 0:06:41.680 tried to give her the benefit of doubt. I was like, 0:06:41.760 --> 0:06:44.560 even like, I don't know, maybe I don't know what's 0:06:44.560 --> 0:06:46.040 going on here, but I couldn't believe it. 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:50.880 A Christian, I do believe in miraculous conception. However, I 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:54.840 haven't seen it outside of the biblical stories, So that 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:59.080 would that would be some a whole new story to 0:06:59.160 --> 0:06:59.920 share if. 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.919 That, and it would be with you know, Joseph in 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:04.280 the situation would be Clayton. 0:07:05.160 --> 0:07:06.760 Yeah, which you know I would run with. You know, 0:07:06.800 --> 0:07:09.480 maybe I would make are out of that, but not 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:11.240 a loss. That wasn't the case. 0:07:11.640 --> 0:07:14.520 Okay, need to know what did she seem like the 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:17.080 night that you met her? Like, did she give off 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:18.160 these crazy vibes? 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:20.880 No, she was totally normal. That was That's a sad 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.760 part about it is she could totally have a relationship 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:27.160 and be happy and start a family and she's not 0:07:27.400 --> 0:07:29.240 you know, I don't see her as attractive now, but 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:33.080 she's not an ugly woman. And she was totally normal. 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.800 Conversation was normal. It wasn't until I told her the 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:37.880 next day after she begged for me to date her 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.600 like five times, that I finally said no means no, 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:44.320 stop asking me. And that's when her face glossed over, 0:07:44.400 --> 0:07:46.720 went completely dark. Her eyes didn't go black, but it 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:48.400 felt like that. I mean, in that moment, I remember 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:49.920 her staring at me and be like, I get it. 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:53.000 Have a good one. Got out of my car and 0:07:53.160 --> 0:07:55.840 I just knew something was off. I just felt really 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.680 really bad energy. So no, she could have just had 0:07:58.680 --> 0:08:01.679 a normal life. Unfortunately, there's some stuff from her past 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:04.280 obviously that has warped her into who she is and 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:07.559 doesn't help that. Her mom is her accomplice and helps 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.040 her along with these things. But there's definitely some past 0:08:10.360 --> 0:08:15.080 familial trauma, and unfortunately she's not willing to seek help 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:15.400 for it. 0:08:16.080 --> 0:08:19.119 Yeah, I mean, I'm imagining there is a lot of pain, 0:08:19.640 --> 0:08:21.760 Like any anybody that's gonna do this has a lot 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:25.120 of pain. And so that's the hope on how to 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.600 confront that. First off, Now, I do want to transition 0:08:28.680 --> 0:08:30.280 here because we are not here to do a deep 0:08:30.400 --> 0:08:33.320 dive in actually we are not able to do a 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:35.480 deep dive into Clayton's court. 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:38.000 Kits. All I'm saying is. 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:43.920 Please submit this story to Lifetime and to clarify she 0:08:44.000 --> 0:08:46.280 really did fake four or five pregnancies. 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:51.280 Yes, yeah, we know of four or five. I don't 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:54.960 there's but then there's now apparently other men. It's just 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:57.439 a matter of like, did she go the full pregnancy 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:00.480 rout of it? Did she just threaten them andferent ways. 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:05.240 So yeah, it's and there's been discussions about a documentary, 0:09:05.400 --> 0:09:08.920 but I think everyone's waiting to see what happens with 0:09:08.960 --> 0:09:10.679 the County attorney. Of course, like if they decide a 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:12.800 prosecute or not. There has to be some type of ending, 0:09:12.920 --> 0:09:15.200 But right now it's just all up in the air. Okay. 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:27.880 As much as I would love to sit here for 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:31.080 the next forty minutes and talk about Clayton's court case, 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:32.839 that's not why we're here today. We're here to talk 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:35.559 about his time as the Bachelor and then life now, 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.160 which obviously the court case is a lot of life now. 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:41.560 The transitioning question will be a little bit about what 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:43.600 we were just talking about before, and then I want 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.240 to transition into a few things that happened during your season. 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:50.240 How much has this season of life the last two years? 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:52.880 How much has it felt like it's defined you or 0:09:52.960 --> 0:09:56.240 pushed you away from your lead and your time as 0:09:56.240 --> 0:09:58.720 the Bachelor, Because we're looking at two years, that's not 0:09:58.840 --> 0:10:02.719 that long after you're se and stopped airing, had a 0:10:02.720 --> 0:10:05.000 few months buffer there, and then this kind of jumped 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:07.200 into your life, and so how much has this felt 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:11.280 like it's been a cloud or been a defining moment 0:10:11.360 --> 0:10:14.880 for you? And you've never really gotten to enjoy the 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:16.600 fruits of the show. 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.839 You know, I'd say where I'm at currently, I'm in 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:25.000 a really great spot. The last two years just weren't 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:28.560 the traditional type of experience for a bachelor. For me, 0:10:28.640 --> 0:10:31.160 it was, you know, a cheating accusation right out the gate, 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.840 which I disproved, and then it became a second accusation. 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:36.960 So I was, you know, back to back years of 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.360 getting accused. Of course, you know, I had a very 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:44.920 interesting end to my season. Certainly could have handled things differently. 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.200 I give myself grace now, I mean I really met well, 0:10:47.240 --> 0:10:50.760 but I lacked emotional intelligence, and so you know, I 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:53.000 chalked it up to being an a household of three 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:55.680 boys and having no women and not talking about emotions. 0:10:55.760 --> 0:10:58.920 So now, nonetheless, that's that's what I've had to learn, 0:10:59.000 --> 0:11:03.000 is to develop that. And these last two years I've 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.160 grown a lot as a person. Have I been able 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:08.080 to enjoy being the Bachelor? Like certainly and maybe not, 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.240 you know as much as other people that had really 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:12.520 great edits and you know, walked out of there and 0:11:13.000 --> 0:11:15.680 we're just loved by everybody. But I also think that 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:18.880 that wasn't supposed to be my experience. I needed to 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.120 grow up as a human being and there were some 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:23.480 things that areas of my life that I could improve upon, 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:26.120 and that's what the last two years afforded me. I've 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:30.000 done therapy multiple different times. I've gotten into a lot 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.960 of healing modalities. I've done breath work, I've done plant medicines. 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:35.600 I've really dove into who I am, and I feel 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:38.560 that I'm finally my most authentic version of myself, which 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:40.960 is completely different than who I was on the Bachelor. 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:46.400 There's certainly remnants of who I was then, but I've 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.800 I've changed a lot and so now who I am today, 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:52.360 I'm forever grateful for being I don't feel like I'm 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:55.079 living a facade. Actually feel like I'm the real Clayton 0:11:55.120 --> 0:11:58.679 for once. So that's cool. That's a really great feeling. 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.080 You know. Unfortunately I had to go through the adversity 0:12:02.120 --> 0:12:03.840 to get here, but I also I now I see 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:07.000 it as a blessing. You know. It took me to 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:10.160 the lowest moments of my life, but that's where the 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:14.080 most growth occurs. And so I feel good. Yeah, like 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:18.120 I'm happy, And I will say now that, like I 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:19.920 guess on the other side of it. Now it's like, hey, 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:23.880 I'm authentically me. There's not really opportunities anymore, Like I've 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:27.160 fallen out of the spotlight. But that has been it 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:30.440 was tough at first to just watch like it all 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:35.000 fall off and not really like be relevant, but you know, 0:12:35.160 --> 0:12:37.120 because I gotten used to that, always people staying in 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.280 my business. But now in the last six months or so, 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:41.720 it's kind of become nice, Like it's allowed me to 0:12:42.720 --> 0:12:45.800 acclimate back to normal life, where like people aren't really 0:12:45.800 --> 0:12:47.920 paying attention to what I'm doing, not to the degree 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:51.280 they were prior, and so I like that, you know, 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:53.280 I think it's helped me realize that, like all that 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:56.559 extra noise and stuff doesn't really matter. If I get 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.480 future opportunities, that's awesome, but I'm not going to lose 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:01.760 myself the same way that I did the first time around. 0:13:01.960 --> 0:13:04.240 So long winded answer, but that's all my answer, and now. 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:07.480 Long when it's good and I want to. So we're 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:11.600 a few years removed, and it feels like from talking 0:13:11.600 --> 0:13:15.080 to you, kind of your defense defenses are down, like 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:19.280 you're you're not as protective of Hey, you know, I'm 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:22.679 going to blame outside world like many of us do 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:24.360 when we come off the show, right, But you did 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:27.040 use the word edit there, and I want to read 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:28.680 a quote I don't know if you remember this that 0:13:28.760 --> 0:13:30.960 you gave in twenty twenty two. It says, watching it back, 0:13:31.000 --> 0:13:33.959 I was embarrassed and disgusted by my actions and the 0:13:34.000 --> 0:13:37.320 way I was portrayed or seen on TV. Ultimately, I 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.680 had to live with the fact that my narrative is 0:13:39.720 --> 0:13:42.360 what was shown and that was hard because that's not 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.760 really who I am. I don't feel that what I 0:13:44.840 --> 0:13:47.640 was on the show is who I truthfully am. But 0:13:47.720 --> 0:13:52.280 I did those things. I became that person. So after 0:13:52.320 --> 0:13:54.760 what you just said there and reading that quote, what 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:57.960 I'm reading between the lines is are you saying that 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.960 you're you weren't who you wanted to be on the show, 0:14:02.120 --> 0:14:04.280 or that the edit was it what you wanted to be? 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:08.480 I don't know, like question the story was. And so 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:11.000 for everybody listening now we're two years removed, give clarity 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:13.680 to what exactly went on during your season. 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.400 Yeah, well, you want me to walk through as far 0:14:16.480 --> 0:14:18.960 as like how the outcome of it or or just 0:14:19.360 --> 0:14:21.760 basically just explaining that quote that you just mentioned. 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:24.000 Yeah, the quest I want to I want to know 0:14:24.080 --> 0:14:27.160 what we didn't see from people. I want to know 0:14:27.200 --> 0:14:28.000 what was missing from the. 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:30.560 Four hours with you guys. 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:33.400 You guys know I can't talk about. 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:35.160 Some of the NDAs. 0:14:35.200 --> 0:14:35.720 Come on now. 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:43.600 Yeah, they're sold and they will come after me. I am. 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.720 That quote that you just mentioned was coming from an 0:14:46.760 --> 0:14:50.680 ego centric place. At that point, I was under a 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:52.880 lot of dress and so I fell backed into a 0:14:52.960 --> 0:14:56.920 corner and I wasn't willing to accept full accountability for 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:01.320 what resulted and what was shown. That being said, I 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:06.120 definitely feel it's a shared sense of accountability what was 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:09.240 shown on TV. There was no body double. It was me, 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:13.400 so that that was me and those were my actions. 0:15:14.440 --> 0:15:17.320 But I also there was a lot of things. You know, 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:19.760 again the show, you guys know this. I mean, it's 0:15:19.800 --> 0:15:22.520 a two hour episode, but you know two hours in 0:15:22.560 --> 0:15:25.240 one episode encapsule, it's four or five days of filming 0:15:25.320 --> 0:15:28.680 at you know, fourteen fifteen hours a day, So there's 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:31.160 just missing context. I used to think, you know, or 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:34.800 feel that, you know, they did it out of spite 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.800 and try to destroy my character. I now look at 0:15:38.840 --> 0:15:41.920 it like, I don't think the producers are that vengeful. 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:44.720 I think they just really tried to create a very 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:48.880 highly emotional season, and I think they realized that people 0:15:48.920 --> 0:15:50.800 didn't like me out the gate. They weren't happy I 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.240 was chosen as a bachelor, so they were looking for 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:55.200 reasons to hate me. And I think, you know, after 0:15:55.280 --> 0:15:58.760 my season, the show was like, you gave us too 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.320 much firepower, and if we don't produce it this way, 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:03.480 I mean, we don't want a lukewarm bachelor. We want 0:16:03.760 --> 0:16:06.520 either a very beloved bachelor or a hated bachelor. And 0:16:07.520 --> 0:16:10.200 in the past, you know, they've they you know, every 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:12.120 so often they go for a bachelor and they kind 0:16:12.160 --> 0:16:15.560 of take them down the opposite route. I mean, I think, 0:16:15.600 --> 0:16:17.720 you know, I've seen Peter Webber kind of got a similar, 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:20.240 you know, approach in the way that he was portrayed. 0:16:20.520 --> 0:16:22.360 Now that being said again, I mean, I don't want 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.880 to try to displaced blame here. You know, I took 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:29.200 those actions on the show, and so you know, people 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:31.280 were upset by it. I also think too, though, that 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:33.520 it's not a matter what I will say is like, 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:35.080 I'm not going to defend what I did on the show. 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:38.280 In fact, I now accept full responsibility, and I think 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:39.680 I did what I thought was best at the time. 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:43.120 So I've forgiven myself and that's all that matters. Could 0:16:43.120 --> 0:16:45.880 I have done things better, Yeah, in hindsight, sure. But 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:50.920 I also was very emotional to the way that my reaction, 0:16:51.040 --> 0:16:54.480 how people responded to me, And it's not that serious. 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:56.640 Now I realized that like people were treating it. I 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:58.520 was getting death threats. People were telling me I was, 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:01.520 you know, all the worst things in the world, stupid, 0:17:01.560 --> 0:17:03.800 not deserving, blah blah blah blah. I now realize those 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:07.320 people are extremely overreacting. It's not that serious. Like I 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:09.639 hurt some people on a TV show and I'm sorry 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:12.080 for that, but I mean, this life or death treatment 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.760 was ridiculous. So you know, I look at it now 0:17:15.760 --> 0:17:18.160 and I'm just like I was a little bit overly sensitive, 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:20.520 and so anytime that anything got brought up, I felt 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:22.600 like the world was coming crashing down on me. And 0:17:22.640 --> 0:17:26.680 so that original quote was me trying to place blame 0:17:26.720 --> 0:17:29.440 on the shoulders of the show and take it off 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:31.480 me because I'm not a monster. I mean, that's what 0:17:31.600 --> 0:17:33.720 some people viewed me as. I also think that the 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:38.040 you know, the loudest people online, it's it's still a minority. 0:17:38.080 --> 0:17:40.000 I think there's a majority of people that watched it 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:42.520 and said, like, yeah, that wasn't probably smart, but I 0:17:42.560 --> 0:17:45.240 don't think he's a you know, bad guy. I was 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:49.000 really just hyper sensitive to the criticism. So I was 0:17:49.040 --> 0:17:52.240 trying to defend my character. And now I realized I was, 0:17:52.280 --> 0:17:55.520 like these people were overreacting a lot of them, And 0:17:56.640 --> 0:18:00.159 you know, yeah, was I immature in certain senses, yes, absolutely, 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.000 But my gosh, it's a TV show like relax. I 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:06.240 didn't I didn't, you know, do something that drastic. 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:08.960 I just you just said, I love you. 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:09.760 You know, it's. 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:12.120 That tell somebody. 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:16.240 I mean, I I failed at you know, polyamory or 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:17.399 whatever you want to call it. Like that's why the 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.199 show is, you know, like it's date multiple people and 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.200 then you try to get back to monogamy and I 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:24.199 I just failed at that. You know, it is what 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:26.160 it is. So I mean I'm like, yeah, would you say, hey, 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.080 were you what? Was I a successful bachelor? Not really 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:31.240 by the respect of like I mean, I ended up 0:18:31.280 --> 0:18:33.040 alone on the at the end of it, I guess 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.800 Susan and I dated for a year, But it is again, 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:38.080 I've just given myself grace it like it is what 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:39.080 it is. It's at the end of the day. It 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:39.800 doesn't define me. 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:43.480 I sure hope it doesn't. I mean, if you're stone 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:47.520 one day said uh clean Eckerd the Bachelor, Uh big 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:49.520 problems in life, buddy. 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:51.920 To move on, you know, like it's you know, it's 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:54.760 a special experience, and I I mean, I'm forever grateful. 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:57.639 I'm grateful for the show. I don't hold in the 0:18:57.680 --> 0:18:59.600 ill will towards them. Did I hold ill? Well, yes, 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:01.280 I did it certain points, and I wanted to like 0:19:01.320 --> 0:19:03.760 come out and say, here's all the behind the scenes 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:07.000 stuff that like you guys didn't see on TV because 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.720 there was some of that stuff. But it's like the 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:12.080 show has to put in as much as they can 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:15.040 to our windows. So I don't it wasn't malicious why 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:16.919 they left out stuff. I don't think so. And if 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:19.280 somebody dislikes me at ABC whatever, then I guess they do. 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:21.320 But I, you know, I just don't appear I don't 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:23.399 want to hold that at this point. I'm like, forget it. 0:19:23.400 --> 0:19:24.119 It is what it is. 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:27.920 Well, you and Grant are actually in similar situations because 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.399 you're both chosen to be the Bachelor from not the 0:19:30.400 --> 0:19:34.480 top four. You guys were honestly quite random choices from 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:39.440 the top ten. Yeah, why do you think you were chosen? 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.320 Why do you think Grant was chosen? Why? What advice? 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:45.640 I that's a lame question in my point of view. 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:47.960 What advice do you have for Grant? But because you 0:19:47.960 --> 0:19:52.080 guys are in situations, how do you handle it not 0:19:52.119 --> 0:19:54.760 being a main character and becoming the main character? 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:00.560 Yeah? I mean my advice to Grant's just be authentical yourself. 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:04.080