This post contains spoilers from Monday’s episode ofThe Bachelor.
Clayton Echardheaded to hometown dates with his final four women on Monday’s episode ofThe Bachelor.
First, he traveled to Virginia to meet Susie’s family.
“Today we’re going to find out if Clayton likes being choked,” Susie, 28, told the cameras of what she had planned for him.
Susie brought Clayton to a jiu-jitsu studio to learn about the sport she first picked up in Japan. Clayton put on a jiu-jitsu outfit and then the coach taught them a move called shrimping.
“I’ve hadshrimp follow methroughout this entire journey. It’s ridiculous,” Clayton said in the on-camera interview.
ABC
Before meeting the family, Susie talked to Clayton about how she felt when her dad got sick. “The thought of him not being there to walk me down the aisle one day, he set such a standard of what a man should be,” Susie said. “I want him to meet my person. I want him to be there on that day.”
Then, Susie introduced the former NFL player to her mom Jean, dad Tom, sister Barbra and best friend Lauren. Clayton and Susie recountedher limo entranceand how on their first one-on-one date it felt like they’d been dating for over a year. “It was so natural,” Clayton said.
Susie chatted privately with her father, who assured her, “I’m getting stronger every day.”
Tom gave Clayton good news, too. “When you guys walked in the door, there was definitely something there with you guys,” he told the Bachelor. “I felt really comfortable just having you come into my house. I mean, you seem like a really good guy. And I know this too, I know Susie would know if you’re a bad guy or not. So I defer to her judgment. I’ll tell you this, if Susie loves you, we’ll love you.”
That made Clayton feel confident in his connection with Susie. “Knowing how much he means to her and it’s a great step in the right direction to know that there’s nothing holding us back,” Clayton said in an on-camera interview.
Susie’s mom asked Clayton if he loved her daughter.
“I will say I have very, very strong feelings for Susie and to fall in love, to me, it’s very sacred and I know that I will get there,” he said. “There’s a part of me that is trying to make sense of it in my head. To be honest with you, with other women around I don’t necessarily, I kind of guard myself. I don’t want to fall in love with four people. It doesn’t make sense. And so … but when I look at Susie, there’s no question in my mind that I will get there.”
Overall, Susie thought the visit went well. “Having Clayton meet my family, like that in itself is a big deal,” the wedding videographer told the cameras. “I feel like my family could see Clayton becoming part of the family.”
GABBY’S HOMETOWN DATE
Speaking candidly, John told his granddaughter, “I am excited for you. You know what you want and what you like and what you think you’ll love. All I have to say is make sure before you make that final step and say yes because it’s going to be for life. If it isn’t for life, I’ll be really pissed. I’ll come back and haunt you, you know that.”
“You deserve the very best and I hope that’s Clayton,” her dad wrote. “Tell Clayton hello and that I hope to meet him soon.”
RELATED VIDEO: Jesse Palmer Doesn’t Think He’s Met Someone That Wants to Be in Love More Than Clayton Echard
SERENE’S HOMETOWN DATE
Clayton struggled to cross a section that required him to hold a rope as he walked over a suspended bridge with small stepping stones. “My heart is racing,” he said after making it to the other side. But Serene, 26, made it across effortlessly.
“I don’t want to be someone who steps away when it gets tough or it gets scary,” Clayton said in an on-camera interview. “I want to be someone that steps into those moments and makes the most of them.”
To exit the course, Clayton and Serene had to step off a ledge and fall 80 feet. Clayton hesitated, but eventually took the leap.
“Today was a lot of fun,” Serene told Clayton once she too made it back down. “And I feel like kind of conquering that together and just like seeing how you handled it, it’s more of a testament to how I am falling in love with you.”
Then, they met with Serene’s mom Sherri, brother Roland and best friend Melanie. Serene and Clayton told them how the elementary school teacher opened up to him about the deaths of her grandma and cousin during their one-on-one date in Houston.
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Roland couldn’t believe his sister talked to Clayton about such tough times in her life.
“It takes her a lot to be vulnerable with her family that she’s grown up with. She just met you. I was shocked when she said, for example, my grandma, that happened two years ago. Our cousin that happened two, maybe three months ago, somewhere in there,” Roland told Clayton during their one-on-one conversation. “The fact that she told you about that is huge because it’s still an open wound for her for sure. That lets me know that she sees something special. Please be really careful.”
Roland proceeded to ask Clayton if he loved Serene. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t told anybody that I’m in love with them,” the Missouri native admitted. “I’m not there yet.”
When speaking with her mom about Clayton, Serene informed Sherri she felt “pretty comfortable telling him anything.” Serene later told her brother, “I felt like he’s seen me the entire time.”
Still, Roland worried that with three other women left, Serene could get hurt. “Be careful, make sure you’re thinking everything through,” he advised.
Serene acknowledged the risk but found that it was worth it if she ended up happy. “It could be like, what if I fall? But to me it’s like, what if I fly?” she told Roland.
She ultimately left the day feeling “at peace,” telling the cameras: “I definitely feel like I have Mom’s approval and I feel really good about it. I feel secure in our connection, in our relationship together.”
The family meeting only intensified how she felt about Clayton. “I can say that after today I’m not like falling in love with you, I’m in love with you,” Serene told him. “Seeing you with my family really solidified that for me and I don’t think it could have gone any better at all.”
Clayton said he couldn’t stop smiling after hearing that. “It’s so many feelings but it feels so good,” he added before they ended the night with a kiss.
RACHEL’S HOMETOWN DATE
The final hometown brought Clayton to Clermont, Florida, to meet with Rachel and her loved ones.
First, she took him to King’s Landing to go kayaking in a boat with a clear bottom. During their adventure, Rachel, who’d inexplicably lost her voice, and Clayton saw a giant spider that he said “could’ve taken out Godzilla.”
Then they paddled up to the Kissing Tree and shared a passionate smooch. “I think it’s very obvious that Rachel and I have a connection because we can’t keep our hands off each other,” Clayton said in an on-camera interview. “We can’t not kiss.”
ABC/Ricky Middlesworth
Rachel warned Clayton that her dad Tony might not be very welcoming. “He has never really liked someone, anyone I’ve brought home,” she said. “So there’s never going to be someone who’s like, wow that’s a good one. He’s just going to be very skeptical.”
Clayton accepted the challenge. “If I get a, ‘You’re not that bad, kid. You’re not that bad, kid,’ then we’re solid,” he decided.
When they visited Rachel’s dad, mom Mary and best friends Sam and Nate, the flight instructor, 25, recounted her journey with Clayton so far, which included receiving the date roses in Houston andCroatia.
“I haven’t seen you glowing like this,” Mary said of Rachel.
But Rachel’s friends worried about her getting hurt again. “He’s never given me a reason to doubt him,” she assured Nate.
Sam told Clayton that Rachel will “lose her trust in people” if she gets broken up with again. And dad Tony challenged whether Clayton knew Rachel on a deeper level.
“We have talked about past relationships and how she has these aspirations,” Clayton said. “Obviously she’s in pilot school she wants to be a pilot. I love that she’s independent. I love that she’s passionate about being a pilot.”
Tony, too, expressed concern about Clayton still having relationships with other women. “I watch you interact and it almost to me looks like there is nobody else, but that’s the part that’s concerning me right now,” he said.
Clayton promised, “I have no intention of hurting Rachel.”
Still, Tony said he couldn’t give Clayton his blessing until he talked to Rachel.
Rachel told her father, “I would not be putting you guys through this if it wasn’t real.” She also said she’d “never met someone who truly I feel like sees me.”
That led Tony to conclude, “If he’s what you want, I’m all for it.”
Eventually earning Tony’s approval left Clayton thinking the day “was a huge success,” he told the cameras. “I see a future more than ever.”
Rachel felt that, too. “If I was falling for you before, I am falling even harder now,” she told Clayton in whispers after parting ways with her friends and family.
ROSE CEREMONY
Despite assuring the women that he didn’t want to hurt anyone, Clayton knew he would have to do just that as the process moved forward.
“This week to be in your hometowns, meeting your families, was so special,” Clayton said to his final four at the rose ceremony. “I went into hometowns hoping to find clarity and what it comes down to is just following my heart. And it is the toughest decision that I’ve made up until this point.”
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Before she left, Serene asked Clayton if saying “I love you” made him realize he couldn’t reciprocate those feelings. “It just came down to I had to look back and reflect and say, where do I stand with my heart?” Clayton said. “And I just have stronger connections.”
On the car ride home, Serene said she gave the relationship her all. “There’s nothing I can do,” she told the cameras. “It sucks. It really does. And I wish it were different.”
The Bachelorairs Mondays (8 p.m. ET) on ABC.
source: people.com
