Former Bachelor Clayton Echard Defends Zach Shallcross After Fantasy Suite Criticism: ‘Give Him Some Grace’

usmagazine.com:

Bachelors stick together. Clayton Echard came to season 27 lead Zach Shallcross’ defense following criticism of his approach to fantasy suites.The 26-year-old Texas resident raised eyebrows during the Monday, March 20, episode when he vowed not to have sex with his remaining three contestants — Ariel Frenkel, Gabi Elnicki and Kaity Biggar — only to break his promise to himself.

After spending an intimate night with Gabi, 25, Zach informed her that he planned to tell the other two women what went down.The Vermont native, for her part, admitted in a confessional that she would have rather kept the moment private.

Kaity, 28, meanwhile, discovered the truth on her fantasy suite — and was visibly frustrated with Zach for airing the details on camera.Following the bombshell episode, Clayton, 29 took to his Instagram Story with several videos defending Zach’s actions. “There is no privacy,” he claimed on Tuesday, March 21, of what it’s like to speak to contestants on the ABC dating series. “The only privacy is fantasy suites.

Before that [and] after that, there’s zero privacy. You don’t get off-camera time, so that can’t happen.”The former football player — who had his own rocky fantasy suite journey on season 26 — noted that another “very real concern” for leads is whether to disclose information about their romantic connections with other contestants during filming or after the finale, something he said is never a “win-win” situation.“That can really put someone in emotional turmoil when they realize, ‘Wait, you didn’t tell me the full story until now?