What We Know About Reported New Bachelor, Clayton Echard
Since Katie Thurston's season of "The Bachelorette" wrapped in August, fans have been anxiously awaiting the premiere of Michelle Young's season. The latter reportedly began filming on July 30th and presumably wrapped in late August as the teacher wanted to film during her summer break (via Marie Claire). While we have to wait until October 19th to watch Young's journey unfold, we at least have an idea of who will be competing for the final rose. In early September, Women's Health Magazine shared the names of the potential 35 men and a few details about their age, hometowns, and Instagram handles.
Though each of the men looks like they could go the distance, we can already take one of them out of the running. Sources told Variety that ABC has chosen upcoming "Bachelorette" contestant Clayton Echard to lead the 26th season of "The Bachelor." While this means he won't end up with Young's final rose, he may still find "the one" in Bachelor Nation. Here's everything we know so about the alleged new Bachelor.
Clayton Echard outshined all of the men from Katie Thurston's season
E! News recently captured photos of Clayton Echard filming with a camera crew in his home state Missouri. While ABC has yet to confirm the 28-year-old as their Bachelor pick, this suggests that he may be the Season 26 star. Echard is an orthopedic sales representative who played college football and prides himself on his freestyle rapping skills. According to the reality star's Instagram, he loves to hit the gym and spend time with his loved ones. It's also clear from his posts that he has a great smile and infectious positive energy. These very attributes may be what helped Echard stand out from the rest of the Bachelor contenders.
According to Page Six, ABC decided to choose someone from Michelle Young's season after removing Katie Thurston's exes Andrew Spencer, Michael Allio, and Greg Grippo from the running because of Grippo and Spencer's controversial behavior. A source explained, "The caliber of men who came on to Michelle's season was incredible. Each guy was hotter than the next and so many of them treated her like a queen. There was so much excitement about a lot of them. Clayton was no exception."
The source added that the former Seattle Seahawks tight end, "impressed everyone on set and is definitely a big upgrade from any of Katie's guys."