Susie Evans & Clayton Echard Open Up About False Paternity Suit
Bachelor Clayton Echard thought the darkest time in his life was the end of his relationship with Susie Evans. But last year, he was falsely named in a paternity suit. He spoke with Susie Evans about how it almost ruined his life.
Clayton Echard Victorious In Court After Paternity Suit
News broke in September 2023 that Clayton Echard was at the center of a paternity lawsuit alleging he was the father of twins. The Bachelor star immediately denied the allegations and said that the lawsuit was a result of the woman’s unanswered threats to go public if he didn’t pursue a relationship with her.
Clayton and the woman battled it out in court for nearly a year. The paternity suit was dismissed in June of this year. The judge ruled that the woman fabricated the entire story and was never pregnant to begin with.
Talks With Susie Evans About Harrowing Time
Clayton Echard and Susie Evans had broken up a year or more before the paternity allegations. She was one of the few Bachelor Nation stars to immediately throw her support to Clayton. The two remain good friends despite their romantic relationship ending.
He was a guest on Susie’s new podcast this week. They discussed the cheating scandal that almost ruined their relationship. The former couple also spoke about the false paternity lawsuit. Susie said she was “so angry” on Clayton’s behalf and believed him immediately when he said the woman’s claims weren’t true.
Clayton Echard revealed how the legal battle affected his mental health. “I had debilitating anxiety. I laid in bed for days where I just stared at the ceiling… Thankfully, I had a really good conversation with my dad one day… He was like, ‘You laying here in bed is not gonna do anything and you can’t control this… so choose to react how you can, which is to just go on with your life.’ And so I started to do that. I started to get up out of bed, I started going back to my job, and I was like, ‘I’ll just deal with it.’”
He revealed that the woman who filed the lawsuit basically stalked him in an attempt to serve him court papers.
“I went to Miami to see my cousin… and she sees I’m in Miami, so what does she try to do? Serve me the parenting plan at two women’s addresses. One of the girls, we weren’t dating, but we were considering a relationship. And the other one was Jessica from Zach’s season [because] somebody asked me on a podcast if there was a girl [I’d] be interested in on Zach’s season, who would it be, and I said her. She seemed sweet. Now, neither of [the papers] were successfully served… but she just kept trying to serve me papers.”
His Takeaway
Susie Evans said it was “wild” that this woman was allegedly professional scam artist who reportedly scammed other men with similar claims. Clayton Echard said the situation did teach him a lot about himself. “I’ll never ever again let somebody tell me what my worth is. I know what my worth is.”
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