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It’s over between Clayton Echard and Susie Evans, who met on Season 26 of “The Bachelor.”
They shared the news on Instagram, writing, “With incredibly heavy hearts, we wanted to share that we have decided to go our separate ways. For anyone who has ever loved, knows this was a painful decision to make and not one taken lightly.”
The exes said they understand there will be a lot of questions about the split, calling social media a “highlight reel” of their relationship.
The post went on, “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. 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.”
Despite the split, they still support each other.
“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,” they said. “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.”
The statement ended with, “Thank you to all of you that supported our relationship. It means so much more than you will ever know. ❤️”
The news comes after the pair revealed they were moving to separate states after living together in Virginia Beach. Clayton was headed to Scottsdale and Susie to L.A.
The exes famously connected on “The Bachelor,” but she turned him down at the final rose ceremony. When they appeared on the “After the Final Rose” special they revealed they had reconnected and were in a relationship.
In March, the couple opened up to “Extra” about how they ended up together after the show.
Susie shared at the time, “I reached out to Clayton after the show to check in on him, see how things were going, and I posed the idea of having just one more candid conversation, just the two of us. We talked a lot. We talked for several weeks with no intention, no pressure to start a relationship or anything, but we just kept reaching back out to each other and eventually we made the decision to meet up in person, still no pressure. No title or anything. We just took it day by day, and it’s led us here. We’re happy.”
