The Bachelorette's Zach J. Defends Trying to Kiss Clare Crawley

Episode 3 of The Bachelorette, which aired on Tuesday, October 27, proved to be season 16’s most intense two hours yet. Most notably, leading lady Clare Crawley and contestant Zach Jackson had an uncomfortable one-on-one date that led to his elimination. However, the 37-year-old later insisted on Twitter that fans didn’t get to see the whole story.

While getting ready to leave for the night portion of their date, Clare, 39, went to give Zach a goodbye kiss. In the moment, it appeared as though he pulled away from her. After realizing what occurred, Clare no longer seemed interested in kissing him. However, Zach persisted. “It’s OK. It’s fine,” the Bachelor alum said as Zach put his hand on the back of her neck.

Clare Crawley's 'Bachelorette' Contestant Zach J Is a Successful Business Owner — Get to Know Him! — ABC/Craig Sjodin

“I don’t know what just happened. It’s a huge mix-up. Huge. I mean, I was trying to kiss her. Just the look on her face … it was the instant … she was hurt and that’s never my intention. It’s just the worst possible thing and I don’t know what else I could have done,” the Utah native expressed in his confessional.

“This is absolutely not acceptable. Dude, whether you were trying to kiss her or not, I cannot believe he put his hands on her twice like that,” Reality Steve tweeted of the interaction after the episode.

“Was my hand on her? Absolutely. Did I ‘pull’ her? Absolutely not,” Zach replied. “I’m 5’11” 200 lbs and if I pulled her, she would have moved. I was simply trying to let her know that I didn’t pull away. Also, it’s a show and you missed lots of our other interactions but we can’t talk about those.”

After the mishap between Clare and Zach, the visibly upset hairstylist went back to her room. “Zach just made me feel extremely uncomfortable,” she said. “I go in for the kiss to Zach, he pulls away, and the second I just try to walk away, he grabs me. That kind of triggers me and kind of scared me. I didn’t want to be near him in that moment. If I want to walk away because I’m uncomfortable, let me walk away.”