‘The Bachelor’s Clayton Echard Reveals Whether He’s Ready To Start Dating After Susie Split (Exclusive)

Clayton Echard isn’t focused connected gathering idiosyncratic close now. Just weeks aft helium announced his split from Susie Evans, who helium met connected play 26 of The Bachelor, Clayton opened up astir whether he’s acceptable to enactment himself backmost retired there. “I’m conscionable keeping to myself close now,” Clayton, who partnered with the Anxiety & Depression Association of America to stock his acquisition with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “There’s inactive a batch of pain. The feelings are inactive excessively fresh. I’ve conscionable tried to prioritize myself, moving connected my publication that’ I’m coming retired with successful a fewer months, and conscionable spending clip to absorption connected these things successful beingness that I tin bash to amended better upon myself.”

In the weeks since his split, Clayton has been making it a precedence to “get extracurricular and get immoderate caller air,” portion besides getting successful immoderate prime clip with his brother, who helium lives with. “I’m truly prioritizing my intelligence wellness astatine this moment,” Clayton admitted. “I consciousness similar I’m inactive healing, truthful I don’t deliberation bringing anybody other into the equation would beryllium astute erstwhile I’m inactive successful this healing stage.” But, would Clayton spell on Bachelor successful Paradise if he’s inactive azygous adjacent summer? “I don’t usage absolutes anymore!” helium teasted. “I effort not to. But I don’t program connected going connected TV again. But I conjecture crazier things person happened!”

Clayton Echard and Susie Evans connected ‘The Bachelor.’ (ABC)

Despite breaking up successful September, Clayton said that helium and Susie inactive cheque successful with each different “every truthful often.” They adjacent did a joint podcast interview earlier this week, proving they’re connected amicable terms. “We evidently person emotion for each other, truthful we privation to marque definite that we’re handling this breakup successful a bully way, oregon arsenic bully arsenic we can,” Clayton explained. “We did the podcast due to the fact that we privation everyone to recognize that we’re lone going to talk connected this once, but we’re successful enactment of each different and person truthful overmuch emotion for each other.”

Clayton besides didn’t unopen the doorway connected a imaginable reconciliation with his ex, who helium was dating long distance earlier their breakup. “Who knows what’s down the road,” helium said. “Or what it looks like. But close now, we conscionable consciousness similar we request to heal ourselves, and erstwhile we’re capable to heal ourselves, who knows what the aboriginal holds? Right now, we’re taking the clip to prioritize our ain intelligence well-being separately.”

In our interview, Clayton besides talked astir his conflict with Body Dysmorphic Disorder, a intelligence wellness information that causes radical to beryllium overly acrophobic astir a carnal flaw. See much from the Q&A below:

Clayton Echard poses connected the beach. (Hana Gonzalez)

Why was it important for you to publically speech astir your BDD? It’s received specified a affirmative effect from the archetypal clip I talked astir it connected a nationalist level and it aired connected TV. I had some men and women reaching retired to maine successful my DMs connected Instagram. They thanked maine for being truthful unfastened and vulnerable. On the antheral broadside of things, the guys would say, “I thought lone women struggled with this, but it makes maine consciousness truly large that I’m not alone.” It’s thing that a batch of america conflict with, but mightiness not consciousness comfy talking about. It’s prevalent, but possibly not arsenic prevalent arsenic different disorders retired there.

I deliberation sometimes we consciousness a consciousness of guilt, similar radical won’t recognize us, truthful we’d alternatively not speech astir it. I utilized to spot it arsenic an contented that lone affects a prime fewer and I didn’t privation to speech astir it. I didn’t deliberation it was prevalent amongst men, truthful I didn’t privation to enactment a people connected myself by opening up astir it. But I’ve realized each that does is pb to a heap up. So my large absorption present is having these conversations. It’s therapeutic and I spot the payment crossed the committee — the much we speech astir it, the much it becomes commonplace successful our discussions and the much radical volition travel retired and externalize their pain.

When did you recognize you were struggling with BDD?

It was astir apt precocious precocious schoolhouse to college. I started to bash probe online and I started looking astatine resources and I recovered these statistic astir however men endure from it conscionable arsenic overmuch arsenic women do. It was a daze to maine due to the fact that my communicative anterior did not acceptable with this existent narrative. So my world was somewhat of a prevarication to that point. Now, particularly with the spotlight I’m in, I conscionable privation to beryllium capable to item this connection to those who possibly haven’t travel to that spot of knowing yet.

Through partnering up with organizations similar the ADAA, they person enactment groups radical tin join, oregon if they privation to find a therapist successful their area, ADAA has a instrumentality for that. Talking to these professionals and experts and knowing there’s resources retired determination to amended negociate the struggles…that’s what it’s each about.

Has being successful the spotlight amplified your conflict with BDD?

There was an occurrence wherever I was stripped down to conscionable my briefs and I had to tally astir the streets of LA and I retrieve erstwhile that was going to air, I was freaked out. I thought if I had a atrocious assemblage past each the radical online would fto maine know. But I’v since realized that that’s a precise unsafe spot to enactment that overmuch powerfulness successful the hands of others. Thankfully, done that experience, I recovered that, successful bid for maine to negociate these struggles I have, I request to support myself. I truly request to lone spot value successful the opinions of those astir maine who emotion me. The amusement brought to airy my insecurities successful areas that I felt I thought I had a bully grasp on, but realized I really had to marque adjustments to to amended support myself agelong term.