Clayton Echard has had a rough time leading The Bachelor for its 26th season. It’ll all be worth it in the end, though, if he comes out of it with the woman he’s going to marry. That’s certainly the hope, anyway, for the man who’s been on the defensive from the beginning over his casting and subsequent decision-making on the reality dating show. However, former Bachelor Peter Weber isn’t sure Echard’s going to get his happily ever after, saying he’s afraid the Missouri native ends up alone after the final rose ceremony.
The Bachelor has been filled to the brim with drama this season, and it’s honestly gotten pretty bad. Clayton Echard was tested right off the bat when he took a rose back from a woman who he found out lied to him, and the past few weeks have seen him being manipulated by villain Shanae Ankney (though the producers may have played a role in that). It doesn’t look like the road’s going to get any easier, either, as promos have shown the main man professing his love for multiple women and revealing to two of them that he was intimate with both.
This last point is where Peter Weber thinks it all falls apart for Clayton Echard. While Weber thinks Rachel Recchia and Susie Evans appear to be the front-runners (spoiler alert: see who Echard’s rumored final three are), Weber said Echard’s intimacy reveal might be too much for his top choice to handle. Check out what Weber had to say on US Weekly’s Here for the Right Reasons podcast:
My prediction is — and I hate to say — that he ends up with no one and that it was supposed to be Rachel. [I think] she loses it. And then who knows if they all walk away or how it ends — maybe he walks away because it was mainly Rachel. I’m hoping that’s not the case, but that’s how I kind of think it ends.
Peter Weber definitely has Rachel Recchia at the top of his Bachelor bracket, saying if she walks away, Clayton Echard might decide to not choose anyone. The pilot thinks Susie Evans is probably Echard’s “No. 2,” but he doesn’t see as much of a connection between them as he does with Echard and Recchia. The Season 24 Bachelor — who experienced his own dramatic finale — also said he was surprised by some comments from the current leading man, which Weber thinks might hint at his season’s result.
I saw an interview where he was like, ‘Yeah, I fell in love.’ And that was very shocking to me because normally you’re not supposed to say that and give it away. And I think it’s gonna be more of he found himself, a self-love type situation, like, he learned a lot about himself, and he is really excited about progressing and finding something in the future. We will see.
While it’s true that the contestants aren’t usually allowed to reveal details about their journeys until after the show has aired, ABC used Clayton Echard’s intimacy confession and multiple “I love you”s in promos to advertise Echard’s season, so it was likely fair game for the former football player to discuss in interviews.
If anyone is familiar with the inner workings of the franchise, however, it’s Peter Weber, who appeared on Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette before leading his own season of The Bachelor. Whether or not Clayton Echard’s journey ends with him finding his wife remains to be seen, but given what he’s been through this season, Echard is undoubtedly learning a lot about himself, so maybe Weber’s on to something.
We’ll have to tune in to find out! The Bachelor airs at 8 p.m. ET Mondays on ABC. Be sure to check out our 2022 TV Schedule to see what other shows are coming up.
