The Bachelor’s Clayton Echard Hints He May Be in a New Relationship: ‘People Will Get an Answer’ 

“Answers will be clear at some point,” said Echard

By Ingrid Vasquez is a Digital News Writer at PEOPLE. She graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor in Journalism. Before joining the team, she worked as an Editor at FanSided and provided work in the celebrity and lifestyle space for brands that include Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, EW, and more.

Published on January 23, 2025 12:56AM EST

Clayton Echard may have finally found love following his time on The Bachelor.

Echard, who competed for Michelle Young‘s love on season 18 of The Bachelorette and was the star of season 26 of The Bachelor, hinted at a possible new romance during an appearance on the Wednesday, Jan. 22 edition of The Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast.

The topic of conversation came up after Echard was asked about the top three women of his season of The Bachelor: Susie Evans, Rachel Recchia, and Gabby Windey.

As fans may remember, Echard and Evans revealed their relationship status on After the Final Rose, after Echard decided not to give his final rose to Recchia and Windey during his final elimination. Evans and Echard then announced their split in a joint Instagram statement in September 2022.

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When asked where he stood with Evans, Echard said he knew the two were “never going to ever be a thing again.”

“So, it was just like once that was severed, you know, we were important in each other’s life to help each other get through, you know, a traumatic time, and she helped me grow as a person,” he said.

“But ultimately, after we had those breakup conversations, I mean, and after the feeling subsided, it became very much just like, ‘Hey, you know what? We weren’t meant to be each other’s forever person,’ ” Echard added.

Being that Windrey is currently in a relationship with Robby Hoffman, Echard was then asked about Recchia.

“Do you and Rachel stay in contact? Is there any fuel still to the potential flame that could be the two of you?” asked co-host Ben Higgins, referencing the joint TikTok the two made in February 2023.

“I don’t really keep in contact with her. I’m not sure what she’s doing these days. But I will say that, yeah, I hear people talk. They always wonder if the two of us would have made sense together. And I don’t think people will be asking that question much, much longer. I think I’ll just leave it at that,” said Echard.

After Higgins and his co-host Ashley Iaconetti asked if Echard may be in a new romance, he decided to play coy.

“I’m not going to drop any bombshells today,” he said. “No, there could be talking to somebody, in a relationship, could not be. I could have, you know, whatever. Things will make sense.”

“I’ll put it this way. People will get an answer at some point here soon. As far as what I’m alluding to,” continued Echard. “Answers will be clear at some point. I just, that’s all I’ll say.”