Clayton Echard wishes that "people would just wait until the full story is out" before "casting their judgments."
ABC's 26th leading man has gotten a lot of criticism for his season of The Bachelor. And on Clickbait with Bachelor Nation—with hosts Joe Amabile, Natasha Parker and guest co-host Deandra Kanu—Clayton discussed the backlash he has received, and how he has dealt with it.
He explained that fans of the show are judging his decisions without knowing the full story. "Today's day and age, everybody likes to jump and push their opinion out as quick as they can," he told the Bachelor alums. "With technology and Twitter and all these different avenues, we're able to get out our opinions as quick as possible."
And though he believes there is "some validity" to some of their arguments and that he expects "to face criticism" as he "did not do things perfectly," he wishes fans would just wait to see what happens.
Though it has been hard to take on the role of the bachelor, Clayton has had a good support system helping him through.
"I've had really great conversations with previous bachelors [and] bachelorettes," he shared, "that have really put it in perspective that, 'hey, a lot of what you're feeling, a lot of this hate that you see online is temporary. And it can change very quickly.'"
Previously a source close to production exclusively told E! News that "Clayton is really struggling with the criticism he has taken for the decisions he has made on the show."
"Clayton is so concerned with how things will play out," the sourced continued, "that he even reached out to former bachelors Matt James and Nick Viall for their advice and support."
On the podcast, Clayton added that his family—including his mom, dad and brothers—"check in about once a week."
"I live with my brother currently," he added. "We watch the episodes together. He keeps it pretty lighthearted. He makes fun of me; says I have no game and just loves to bash everything about me. But that's our dynamic. He's been great to have around."
While we wait to find out who Clayton gives his final rose to during the season finale of The Bachelor on March 14, tune into Click Bait with Bachelor Nation when new episodes drop weekly.