Are Bachelor’s Clayton Echard and Susie Evans Still Together? Find Out Where They Stand Today!

Wait a minute … are The Bachelor‘s Clayton Echard and season 26 contestant Susie Evans still together? Although they were seemingly going strong, the pair gave a heartbreaking update in September 2022. Keep reading to find out where the reality TV couples stands today. 

What happened between Susie and Clayton?

The potential couple continued their back and forth, with Susie explaining, “If you feel like you’re in love with me, it doesn’t make sense to sleep with somebody else.” In response, Clayton said, “I told myself coming into this that I wouldn’t fall in love with multiple women, but it’s happened.”

Although Clayton said he would have done things differently if he knew it would “be a deal-breaker” for Susie, there was no turning back time. Susie walked away crying.

That being said, Susie ultimately returned for the final rose ceremony during the finale. Not only did Susie return to the show, but she was the only person left during the final rose ceremony after a fallout between Clayton, Rachel and Gabby.

“I have made the decision to leave Iceland alone,” Susie tells Clayton, adding it was a “devastating” conclusion. “I thought this through and I don’t think I’m your person and I don’t think that you’re mine.”

Did Clayton and Susie Get Engaged?

During After the Final Rose, Clayton revealed that he left Iceland and went back to “what I thought was my normal life” but then Susie reached back out. “I was absolutely shocked there was maybe that came from all of it,” Clayton said.

Susie then came out and confirmed they are still dating. “We’re really happy and we’re happy to be here today,” she said. “That’s my boyfriend.”

She also admitted they “took some steps back” but they are currently in love and in a “serious” relationship. “I can confidently say yeah, he’s incredible.”

However, they noted that they both “could have done better” and expected some backlash after the finale.

Neil Lane was in the audience, with Jesse teasing that maybe a proposal is coming, but Clayton said they have other things planned for now. He then gave her the final rose and asked if she accepted it, which she did.

Come summer 2022, Clayton and Susie were still going strong. The lovebirds were constantly gushing over each other on social media. “My granola game is elevated thanks to @claytonechard and Clayton alone,” Susie captioned an adorable video of Clayton lifting her up at the grocery store on July 10.

Did Clayton and Susie Live Together?

The pair announced during After the Final Rose that they were moving together to Susie’s hometown of Virginia Beach to continue growing their relationship. After less than a year on the east coast, they revealed they were moving again — to different states.

“I’m moving to Scottsdale, and she’s going to move in the interim to L.A.,” Clayton said during an appearance on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast on August 17. “[It’s] only a 50-minute flight apart, but we’re both chasing our dreams. I think for location-wise, we both feel that those are the spots that we want to be.”

The former football player assured it was something that they were willing to try out but would move closer to one another if it doesn’t work out. “We don’t know if we’re going to like that long distance,” he explained. “People might look at us like, oh, they’re separating. … I think a little distance never hurts.”

Are Clayton and Susie From The Bachelor Still Together?

During the season 26 finale of The Bachelor, Clayton told his family that he wanted to try to get Susie back. “You’re grasping at straws. That’s done, gone and history … She made the choice to walk,” his dad, Brian Echard, advised at the time. But the football player insisted he had to try. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of woman,” he said.

The couple’s drama began when the Virginia Beach native expressed major concerns about Clayton’s overnight dates with fellow contestants Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia. “I didn’t even really like, comprehend the gravity of it until this second,” she said while Rachel was out for her date. “I don’t know if he can fall in love with multiple people at once.”

“For me, sex is connective with somebody,” Susie added before heading to her own fantasy suite one-on-one. “I just hope that, like, Clayton’s on the same page and sees it from my perspective.”

As it turns out, he wasn’t. Though Clayton revealed that he was in love with Susie, she wasn’t the only one. During their intimate dinner at the Sky Lagoon hot springs, Susie admitted she would feel “uncomfortable” if he slept with other women.

“Those are things I think would be impossible to move forward toward an engagement,” she shared. “If I’m sharing your love with somebody else, I don’t think I would be comfortable.” 

He responded, in part, saying, “Yes, I have slept with someone else here, and yes, I have expressed feelings to someone else of falling in love.”

Although things between the duo seemed blissful, they announced their split on September 23 via Instagram. 

“With incredibly heavy hearts, we wanted to share that we have decided to go our separate ways,” Susie wrote. “For anyone who has ever loved knows this was a painful decision to make and not one taken lightly. We understand that there will likely be a lot of questions about this decision — social media is definitely a highlight reel and much of our experiences together we have kept private as I’m sure most can understand. But we will share this —  although this last year together has brought us so much joy and so many laughs, there has also been a significant amount of pain.” 

Susie then touched on what went down between them, writing, “We know no healthy relationship comes without its struggles, but we’ve realized that we were not prepared for the external forces that hindered our ability to not only heal as individuals, but also as a couple. We both are focused on continuing to work on ourselves so we can be the best version of ourselves.”

“This is not an easy time for either of us, but we stand in support of each other and hope to see the other go on to find happiness and healing,” she concluded. “Although Claysie is no more, we hope that our communities can support us individually as we move forward with love and respect for each other. Thank you to all of you that supported our relationship. It means so much more than you will ever know.”