Bachelor Clayton Echard Changes His Mind About His Beliefs On Love

Lots of "The Bachelor" fans lost their minds with the last episodes of Clayton Echard's season. In the Fantasy Suite episode, Echard told not one, not two, but all three of the remaining women that he loved them, and he slept with both Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia for their respective Fantasy Suite dates (via Variety). The third finalist Susie Evans then dropped what seemed like a bombshell for Echard: If he'd slept with or fallen in love with any of the other women, she was out. Once Evans found out, the two were done with Echard accusing Evans of not fighting for their relationship (per Us Weekly). Did the drama end there? Of course not!

For the finale, Echard realized Evans was the one who got away, and he dumped Windey and Recchia and tried again with Evans, only to be shut down. "I don't feel like the kind of love I have for you right now is the kind of love that you have for me right now," Evans told him at the final rose ceremony. "Like, you have an unconditional love for somebody that you want to spend a lifetime with, and, like, that's not where I'm at" (via Us Weekly). But wait, there's more.

At the "After the Final Rose" special, the world found out that Evans and Echard are currently dating. And with time away from the cameras, it seems like Echard has done some self-reflection and learned some lessons.

Clayton Echard realized he was only ever in love with Susie Evans

One thing that Clayton Echard seems to have realized with some introspection is that he wasn't actually in love with all three women towards the end. He thought he was in the moment while he was "on the show," he explained on the "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast. "But as I've now taken the time to reflect and look back, I believe that I got to the point where I was falling in love with everybody, but then it got to the point where I was only in love with Susie."

He went on to say that he was confused, and Echard confirmed to Us Weekly that he now believes that, "You can fall for many, but you can only be in love with one." That's sure to be comforting for Evans.

As for Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, they will both be co-leads for the full upcoming Season 19 of "The Bachelorette." The two women went through a lot dealing with Echard, so it will be exciting to see how they support each other in their continued quest for love (via USA Today).