Fans having been watching Clayton Echard's journey on The Bachelor for quite some time now, and it seems that the process has been working for the the 28-year-old former college football player. Clayton has even said that he found love on the show. But what fans do not know is things could have turned out very different if Clayton had said no to being the leading man, something that could have very easily happened. He admitted that sometimes he regrets saying yes to becoming the lead.

When Clayton was first announced as the lead for The Bachelor season 26fans had a lot of mixed reactions to him being named as the new lead. While some were excited for him to take on the role, others were not so keen on him being chosen opposed to someone more deserving. Those mixed reactions took a toll on Clayton as the backlash from fans of the show got to him, something that he was not expecting to receive so much of when announced as The Bachelor.

Related: Bachelor: Clayton Echard Talks About His Struggles With Body Dysmorphia

According to Us Weekly, the 28-year-old has stated, "I think the first three weeks of the show airing, I definitely [regretted saying yes], you just don’t know what to expect going into it.” He also stated that he had no frame of reference for what being the lead was going to entail after he exited Michelle's season of The Bachelorette fairly early. He also stated, "[For] the first three weeks, I thought, ‘This is going to be great. Everyone’s gonna come around. People are really going to start seeing my personality,’ and they just weren’t, it seemed like no matter what they showed … [fans] are still just wanting to find something to be mad at me about."

Clayton Echard on The Bachelor season 26 promo

Despite sometimes regretting saying yes to the show, Clayton has stated his journey to finding love did work out in the end. So, if he turned down the opportunity to do the show, while he may have gotten the chance down the line, that could have been a long time from now. From what fans can gather, Clayton is happy in life right now and is ultimately glad that he did end up becoming The Bachelor. Despite having to make some tough decisions while on the show, it seems that Clayton did find someone at the end of his journey.

As the show nears its conclusion, Clayton will be dealing with a lot as he narrows his choices down to one woman. Fans have been critical of his choices so far and it will only get tougher from here. Hopefully, Clayton will be able to look back on the experience with more positive memories to take away than negative ones.

Next: The Bachelor: Why Fans Think Production Forced Clayton Keep Shanae

The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8pm EST on ABC.

Source: Us Weekly