Hindsight 20/20. Clayton Echard gave Shanae Ankney several chances on The Bachelor, but he’s not happy about it now that he’s had a chance to watch the episodes.
“It’s honestly scary how manipulative Shanae is like is she secretly a serial killer,” a Bachelor viewer tweeted during the Monday, February 7, episode of the ABC series. The former NFL player, 28, retweeted the message, adding the comment, “Lock her up! She’s killed all my credibility already.”
Fans have anointed the Ohio native, 29, as the “villain” of season 26 after her clashes with several other suitors. Her fellow contestants seemed to believe Clayton would send her home on Monday after she threw a group date trophy in a pond, but he gave her another chance when she tearfully apologized to the women for her actions.
In a confessional interview, however, she revealed that she didn’t feel sorry at all, adding that she deserved an Oscar or Emmy for her “performance.” The episode ended with Clayton taking her on a 2-on-1 with Genevieve Parisi, but he hadn’t yet made a decision about which woman would receive a rose.
Ahead of the show’s January 3 season premiere, the Missouri native admitted that he “did some things wrong” during filming. “There’s plenty of words that you can pick — chaotic,” he told Us Weekly in December 2021. “I wasn’t there 24/7 around all the women, so I’m gonna see things for the first time myself. And I’m excited to see what that looks like. Obviously, I heard a lot of the drama that I wasn’t present for, but now I’m like, ‘OK, maybe I’ll catch somebody that told me a story that maybe doesn’t exactly match up with what I see.’”
Earlier this month, the reality star apologized to Elizabeth Corrigan after her January 31 elimination. The real estate advisor, 32, repeatedly clashed with Shanae, who made fun of her after she revealed that she has ADHD.
“I’m sorry, Elizabeth, for what you’re going through. I wish I could have seen what was happening when I wasn’t there,” Clayton tweeted one day after the episode aired. “I would have sent Shanae home immediately for making fun of you for being neurodivergent, had I known.”
The University of Missouri graduate went on to say that watching the show back “hasn’t been fun” for him because he’s “seeing all the damage” his decisions caused among the contestants. “I really meant well, but my actions weren’t always the best as I now can see the repercussions from my decisions,” he added. “I can promise you I’m learning from the mistakes though and am doing everything in my power to come out the other side a better man.”
The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET.