Clayton Echard can definitely say that hindsight is 20/20.
On Tuesday, Feb. 1, Clayton spoke out about the latest episode of The Bachelor in a statement addressed to Elizabeth Corrigan, who he sent home in a last ditch effort to resolve the feud between her and Shanae Ankney. At the time, Shanae had claimed that Elizabeth was bullying her, but now Clayton understands who the real bully was.
“I’m sorry, Elizabeth, for what you’re going through,” he wrote. “I wish I could have seen what was happening when I wasn’t there. I obviously knew y’all weren’t in a good place with each other, but I thought at the time that it was, solely, petty drama.”
To be fair, the fight over a plate of shrimp was petty but the real issue at hand was Shanae’s response to Elizabeth sharing that she has ADHD. Shanae repeatedly minimized the impact the condition has on Elizabeth’s health. But since Clayton wasn’t present, he didn’t see what was going on and chose to send Elizabeth home instead of Shanae. In retrospect, he said, “I would have sent Shanae home immediately for making fun of you for being neurodivergent, had I known.”