Clayton Echard – Is The Bachelor Star On Instagram?
Clayton Echard was on both The Bachelorette and The Bachelor. Now he is on Instagram where he posts workout routines.
Some of you may know the name, Clayton Echard, while others might ask, “who?” Well, if you are fans of the television reality show The Bachelorette (who doesn’t love a good reality show?), the name may ring a bell. For sure, if you are a fan of the television reality show The Bachelor, you most definitely should know the name.
Clayton Echard first became a television personality when he appeared on season 18 of The Bachelorette, vying for the affection of Michelle Young. Not long after his appearance on The Bachelorette, ABC announced that Echard would be the star of the 26th season of The Bachelor and the drama was just beginning. But before we get to that, let’s see the path Clayton Echard took in getting to The Bachelor.
CLAYTON ECHARD IS ON INSTAGRAM
The Bachelor star has an Instagram account with more than 296K followers. His status on the social media platform grew considerably after his time on the show. But now he is using it as a platform to promote various projects.
CLAYTON ECHARD IS 29 YEARS OLD AND WAS BORN IN MISSOURI
Clayton Echard was born on April 29, 1993. He hails from Eureka, Missouri, and found out early on that he loved football. Echard began playing the sport in sixth grade and it was a game he would play throughout high school. When he was a junior, Echard was a 170-pound wide receiver. That changed in his senior year when he packed on 30 pounds and became a defensive lineman.
CLAYTON ECHARD PLAYED COLLEGE FOOTBALL AT MISSOURI
His love for the game of football did not stop once he graduated in 2011. Unfortunately, his physical ability didn’t bring him any scholarship offers, but this didn’t stop Echard. He went to the campus of his hometown’s favorite college team, the Missouri Tigers, where he competed to be a walk-on.
Persistence paid off as Clayton Echard was chosen as a walk-on at the University of Missouri. While playing football, Echard also was a health science major with minors in Spanish and business. Echard graduated in 2015 with his bachelor’s degree.
As a walk-on for the Missouri Tigers, Echard was redshirted in his freshman year. The following year, Echard got into one game. In his second full season, Echard got moved from his defensive end position over to the offense where he played tight end. That year he played in 12 games.
During the 2014 season, Clayton Echard saw time on both sides of the ball. He played in all 14 of Missouri’s games, settling in as a tight end. His final year at Missouri saw Echard continue to play tight end, making one start for the Tigers while playing in every game.
CLAYTON ECHARD PLAYED PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL FOR THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
Clayton Echard was not done playing football. He was not drafted in the 2016 NFL Draft, but that didn’t stop him. Much like he did in college, Echard took his determination to the Seattle Seahawks and was signed by the team in 2016. Echard played in all four Seahawks preseason games but was cut right before the regular season began.
Knowing that he did everything he could to stick with football, Echard pivoted and began working as a sales representative for a medical device company, Stryker Corporation. His sales responsibilities included making sales in “joint reconstructive and trauma” areas. According to Stryker’s website, they are “one of the world’s leading medical technology companies and, together with its customers, is driven to make health care better. The company offers innovative products and services in orthopedics, medical and surgical, and neurotechnology and spine that help improve patient and hospital outcomes.”
CLAYTON ECHARD WAS ON SEASON 18 OF THE BACHELORETTE
As he did with his football career, Clayton Echard tackled life after football with reckless abandon. He took on every challenge presented to him at Stryker’s and when that wasn’t enough, the former college and professional football player stepped up his game for something more. He applied for the popular reality show, The Bachelorette.
Blessed with the good looks and physique necessary to get a role on the reality show, Echard was chosen to be one of 30 contestants on season 18 of The Bachelorette. Among Clayton Echard’s competition was football player Bryan Witzmann, Minnesota’s Mr. Basketball Joe Coleman, and Clint Eastwood’s “secret” grandson, Lowell “LT” Murray IV.
Clayton Echard handled himself quite well during the season 18 run. He outlasted most of the pack, taking down 22 gentlemen before his flame was snuffed out at number 8. Little did Echard know, but his journey was just beginning.
CLAYTON ECHARD WAS THE LEAD FOR SEASON 26 OF THE BACHELOR
Shortly after Clayton Echard took a loss on The Bachelorette, he was chosen to be the lead on the 26th season of The Bachelor. It was a season filled with drama and controversy (come on, it’s what the show is all about, right?) that saw Echard roller coaster in and out of relationships in order to find Miss Right. He went through a number of Miss Right Now’s on his way to his final decision.
As season 26 was winding down, Clayton Echard had narrowed his “love” to two women, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia. The problem he was having, though, was that he couldn’t get his mind off of Susie Evans, the former Miss Virginia USA 2020 titleholder. Echard was “in love” with Evans, but their time together was marked with Echard confessing that although he loved her more than any woman on the show, he had intimate relations with Gabby and Rachel. Yikes.
Evans left the show, leaving Echard to choose between Gabby and Rachel. But in a showstopping move, Echard decided not to choose any of them and instead go after Evans. The two appear on the show After the Final Rose to announce that they had already gotten back together and were moving in together.
CLAYTON ECHARD’S AND SUSIE EVANS BROKE UP
Life appeared to be going well for the new couple, Clayton Echard and Susie Evans. Echard took to his Instagram account to document many of their times together.
Sadly, there was more going on behind those smiling faces. In September, the couple released a joint statement telling the world that they have ended their relationship. “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.”
In the aftermath of their split, Clayton Echard spoke with E! News explaining that he is in no position to be dating right now and has no idea when he will be. “I’m not looking to date right now. I’m not mentally healed,” he said. “I can’t even fathom seeing anybody in that light right now. And so, I think I’m really just taking this time to focus on myself. … If I’m not healed, then I can’t allow anybody else to be a part of my life.”
CLAYTON ECHARD IS DEALING WITH BODY DYSMORPHIC DISORDER
Clayton Echard was in the seventh grade when he began to see things about his body that he didn’t like. He said he began to fixate on his image in the mirror unable to care for what he saw. “I would catch myself before brushing my teeth, staring at my stomach, pinching my sides, pinching my lower abs, and just feeling the fat there, the loose skin,” Echard explained to PEOPLE. “But then I realized that this was something that was becoming more prevalent day after day, and I would pinch my sides 50, 60 times throughout the day.”
It was a secret Echard would keep inside for a long time and it wasn’t until he was in college that he learned there was an actual term for it – Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). As he defines it for himself, Echard says that it is “an extreme fixation on a part of your body that can lead to obsessive behaviors, and seeing that body part in a way that others may not.”
Clayton Echard knows that dealing with his BDD has caused major issues in past relationships, “And that’s one more weight that continues to pile down on me, is if I look in the mirror and I don’t like what I see, then I feel that someone else is going to look at me and not like what they see either.”
So then how did Echard gain the courage to expose himself as he did on The Bachelorette? “I felt like on The Bachelorette side of things when I was on the show with all the other men, these guys were entrepreneurs, very successful individuals, good-looking guys, incredibly fit bodies. It was tough for me to be amongst them because I found myself — It felt like I had basically taken Instagram and put it in a room.”
What Echard found out, though, was that when he began to open up to the other gentlemen on the show, they would share their own personal struggles and Echard started to become more comfortable in his own skin. It took him appearing on The Bachelor before he could begin discussing it on social media and then something amazing happened.
“When I went on the show and accrued this following online, I realized I had this spotlight and platform where I could highlight whatever I wanted to. And I just felt that I didn’t want to highlight me partying…I wanted to have purpose with my platform,” he says.
So a platform he created. Echard has littered his Instagram with workouts and workout routines. He talks about nutrition and health.
On top of that, Clayton Echard is putting together a fitness and nutrition app. His app will feature a custom fitness and nutrition plan he tailors for the individual. It will also give users 24/7 text messaging ability with Echard as well as weekly wellness check-ins.
So, would Echard take another run at The Bachelorette or The Bachelor if given the opportunity? He isn’t sure, though he says, “I’ve suffered a lot of loss. I’ve suffered a lot of self-inflicted wounds, and it’s really, at points, it has caused me to be angry at myself and the world.”
Clayton Echard believes that there is a “greater good” as to why he has gone through all his trials and tribulations. Echard says that it has allowed him to be open about his BDD and given him the platform to not only discuss it but try to help those who may have the same affliction. “So ultimately, I’m thankful for being in the position that I’m in.”
