Baiting the Bachelor w/ Clayton Echard

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Amy Robach & T.J. Holmes Present

Episode: Baiting the Bachelor w/ Clayton Echard
Date: March 31, 2026
Host: Emily Simpson (Legally Brunette) with Shane
Guest: Clayton Echard (former NFL player, Season 26 Bachelor, host of "Love Trapped" podcast)

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the extraordinary real-life legal and personal ordeal of former Bachelor star Clayton Echard. Using a blend of true crime investigation and first-person reflection, Emily and Shane speak with Clayton about his "paternity nightmare"—an attempted legal and social media trap by a woman who claimed to be pregnant after a brief encounter, suing for child support, faking evidence, and ultimately being criminally charged for her elaborate deceptions. Clayton also discusses using his new podcast, "Love Trapped," as a vehicle to reclaim his narrative and support for victims of similar scams.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Clayton's Bachelor History and Public Persona

• Background Recap: Emily recaps Clayton's journey from NFL walk-on to contestant on The Bachelorette (2021) and then unpopular lead on The Bachelor Season 26 (2022).
• Public Reception: On the show, Clayton was criticized ("one of the worst bachelors in history") for telling all three final contestants he was in love, leading to a show-ending breakup and no engagement.
• Emily & Shane’s Take: The hosts agree his decision should be seen positively—“Maybe he shouldn’t be hated because of that. Maybe he should be embraced...” (06:53).

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2. Timeline of the Scandal

• Initial Encounter:
  • May 2023: Clayton meets Laura Owens through LinkedIn about real estate.
  • They engage in non-penetrative sexual acts; she was not a Bachelor contestant.
  • Owens claims pregnancy days later, supplying positive tests and ultimately files a paternity/child support suit.
• False Evidence and Online Manipulation:
  • Owens backs claims with altered ultrasounds and faked videos sourced online.
  • Authorities determine her evidence fabricated; she lied under oath.
  • By June 2024, Owens is indicted on multiple felonies, including false testimony.
• The Internet’s Role:
  • Citizen sleuths from Reddit and social media help expose inconsistencies, track Owens’ online activity, and discover she previously targeted other men.
  • "She was posting stuff online... and we had a public court case... The Internet sleuths within seconds found her name and that made everything public." — Clayton (23:16)

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3. Clayton’s Perspective: Motivation & Reluctance to Speak Out

• Podcast Hesitation & Results:
  • Initially hesitant to do Love Trapped fearing renewed scrutiny: “I wasn’t too enthusiastic about the podcast because...when you Google my name, this is going to be the stuff that comes up.” (13:34)
  • Ultimately grateful: “It’s performed extremely well...they’ve told it in a way that I feel is as unbiased as it can be...It has helped capture more of who I am.” (15:39)

Notable Production Quote:

“This is storytelling. This isn’t a podcast...I was like, oh, this is more like a storytelling podcast. Like, yeah...So that’s why I went back with them...It was their idea.” — Clayton (16:29)

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4. The Tactics of the ‘Trap’ and Legal Unraveling

• Details of Accusations:
  • Owens claims pregnancy despite lack of intercourse, with Clayton rationalizing: “I thought she might have...shoved it up her...Google said there was a small percentage chance.” (23:16)
  • After refusal to date, threats escalate—Owens goes public, files suit, and manipulates social media discourse.
• Fighting Back with Transparency:
  • Clayton mobilizes his social presence: “I just decided to throw all my chips on black...have my, you know, Maury moment, ‘you are not the father.’” (44:46)
  • Paternity testing comes back with "little to no fetal DNA," confirming the hoax.

Memorable Moment:

“She essentially said, if you date me, I will have an abortion. If you don’t date me, I’ll have the children.” (23:16)

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5. Internet Sleuthing, Community, and Victim Advocacy

• Unveiling Multiple Victims:
  • Internet discoveries reveal two other public and at least two private previous victims; Owens allegedly employed similar tactics.
  • Community support was crucial: “The greatest thing the Internet sleuths provide is constant surveillance on her.” (28:19)
• Justice for Clayton, Justice for Victims:
  • Formation of online support community; the podcast becomes not just a personal defense but a resource for others entrapped by similar schemes.
  • “It’s become bigger than me...It’s about people from all different walks of life together that have experienced all different types of trauma.” (32:29)

Notable Quote:

“The only way to stop her is to put her behind bars.” (35:39)

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6. Reflections on Regret, Accountability, & Public Image

• No Regrets:
  • “I don’t actually regret any of it...for the first time, I actually feel like this may be over, because they’ve been fighting with her since, you know, 2016...” (32:06)
  • Emily remarks admiringly: “[It’s] almost like you’re a vigilante in this; the only way this woman would ever be brought down is by you...” (34:31)
• Redefining Masculinity & Reality Show Narratives:
  • Clayton discusses pressures of public image, honesty, and being “an open book.” (35:39)
  • On The Bachelor, he faced preexisting animosity for being chosen over men of color, and for his decisions during the show. He frames this as an important reality TV lesson on authenticity, media production, and unfair public targeting. (51:49)

Insightful Perspective:

“There’s this belief now that everybody we watch on tv, like, you have to uphold this image...And it’s like, it’s not real. It’s just not real.” (35:39)

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7. The Legal Outcome & What’s Next

• Current Status:
  • Laura Owens faces 14 felony charges; plea offers are on the table, but trial looms.
  • “She was offered a plea deal. It doesn’t seem like she’s going to take one...I’ll testify against her at the end of July as well, [as will] the previous victims.” (35:39)
• Podcast as Documentation and Advocacy:
  • “I hope that...this chapter of my life can close. I just want everything to be finished...the more visibility, the better...so hopefully we get resolution.” (55:43)

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Notable Quotes & Moments (w/ Timestamps)

• On Podcasting Reluctance & Value:

  “I wasn’t too enthusiastic...But it’s performed extremely well...they’ve told it in a way as unbiased as it can be.” — Clayton (13:34-15:39)

• On the Trap:

  “She essentially said, if you date me, I will have an abortion. If you don’t date me, I’ll have the children.” — Clayton (23:16)

• Community Power:

  “The greatest thing the Internet sleuths provide is constant surveillance on her.” — Clayton (28:19)

• Regret and Advocacy:

  “I don’t actually regret any of it...for me, it was all for a bigger purpose.” — Clayton (32:06)

• On Authenticity and Reality TV:

  “There’s this belief now that everybody we watch on TV, you have to uphold this image. And it’s like, it’s not real.” — Clayton (35:39)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Background & Timeline Recap: 02:42–12:50
• Clayton Joins; Podcast Motivation: 12:55–18:33
• How Laura Owens Orchestrated the Scam: 23:16–27:45
• Internet Sleuths and Other Victims: 27:45–32:06
• On Regret and the Importance of Advocacy: 32:06–35:39
• Confronting Public Image & Reality TV Confession: 51:02–55:07
• Final Thoughts & What’s Next: 55:43–56:50

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Conclusion

This episode balances scandalous twists with heartfelt advocacy and self-reflection. Clayton moves from reality TV controversy to legal victim to advocate, using his new podcast and a supportive online community to expose manipulative behavior and set a precedent for accountability. The hosts leave listeners with a sense of the broader cultural stakes, reminding us of the dangers of online manipulation, the importance of standing up for oneself, and the unique path to closure forged by unexpected, unfortunate events.

Listen to Clayton’s story in full on his podcast, Love Trapped, for a deeper look at this modern true crime saga and its impact beyond tabloid headlines.

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Transcript

[Emily Simpson]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[Wilmer Valderrama]

Hey, I'm Wilmer Valderrama, and this is Freddie Rodriguez. And we're back. Dos amigos. Season two, baby. Last time, we went deep on our careers, our lives, our art, and everything in between. Our big breaks, our auditions, the near misses, the epiphanies, the moments that changed our lives forever. This season, we're deepening our relationships, creating collaborations, and the door always stays open for a third amigo to pull up a chair. Listen to those amigos on the iHeartRadio Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kristen Davis]

I'm Kristen Davis, host of the podcast Are youe a Charlotte? In 1998, my life was forever changed when I took on the role of Charlotte York on a new show called Sex and the City. Now I get to sit down with some of my favorite people and relive all of the incredible moments this show brought us on and off the screen. Listen to are you a Charlotte? On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Cino]

On the Cino Show Podcast. Each episode invites you into a raw, unfiltered conversations about recovery, resilience, and redemption. On a recent episode, I sit down with actor cultural icon Danny Trejo. Talk about addiction, transformation and the power of second chances. The entire season two is now available to binge, featuring powerful conversations with the guests like Tiffany Haddish, Johnny Knoxville, and more.

[Clayton Eckard]

I'm an alcoholic, and without this trope, I'm gonna die.

[Cino]

Listen to Cino's show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. On paper, the three hosts of the Nick Dickenpole show are geniuses. We can explain how AI works data centers, but there are certain things that we don't necessarily understand better version of

[Clayton Eckard]

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Which, by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually. I thought it was. I got that wrong.

[Cino]

But hey, no one's per perfect. We're pretty close, though. Listen to the Nick, Dick and Paul show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Emily Simpson]

Then she says, have you seen a photo of my son? And I'm like, who is this person?

[Boys and Girls Podcast Host]

Welcome to the Boys and Girls Podcast. Arranged marriage is basically a reality show, and you're auditioning for your soulmate. And who's judging? Only your entire family. I sacrificed myself to this ancient tradition hoping to find love the right way. And instead I found chaos, comedy, and a lot of Cringe. Listen to boys and Girls on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Emily Simpson]

Hi, guys. Welcome to Legally Brunette. I will be your hostess today. Emily Simpson with Shane. Today we have a very special episode because we are going to have a guest come on in a little bit and his name is Clayton Eckard. If you guys do not recognize the name or know what we're going to talk about, we're going to give you a little bit of his bio and a brief background on him before we bring him on so that you guys can get caught up and that we can have a really interesting discussion with him. Because this case, I researched it, looked into it, read a lot of things about it, and it's really, really interesting. Have you ever heard of him before, Shane, before we decided to have him on the podcast today?

[Shane]

I have not heard a story before.

[Emily Simpson]

All right, well, let's get into it. So Clayton is a former NFL player. He was also a medical sales representative and reality television personality, best known as the star of season 26 of the Bachelor. I don't even know what season.

[Shane]

That's why I don't know him because I didn't watch.

[Emily Simpson]

You don't watch the Bachelor?

[Shane]

No.

[Emily Simpson]

Or the Bachelorette? No, I don't either. A former University of Missouri football walk on. He briefly played for the Seattle Seahawks before his stint on The Bachelorette in 2021. And then he must have been the breakout star because then they brought him back and he was The Bachelor in

[Shane]

2022, and that was in the Bachelorette

[Emily Simpson]

and that was season 26. All right. He also has a new podcast that's come out recently and it's called Love Trapped. So former Bachelor Clayton Eckert, casual one night fling. This is what we're going to get into. Turned into a paternity nightmare. I love that we're doing this in your here because you can just. Yeah, I love that we're just going to get not only a male point of view, but Shane's POV on this. When the news broke about the scandal, no one believed Clayton at first. He was a reality TV star and he was unpopular. I don't know why I don't watch the Bachelor or the Bachelorette. So I don't know if he was. I guess he wasn't well received.

[Shane]

Popular enough to become the Bachelor.

[Emily Simpson]

Yes. But then I think after that it

[Shane]

says but not popular enough for the Bachelorette to pick them.

[Emily Simpson]

I guess not. Clayton found himself trying to prove the truth while trapped in a web of lies, manipulation, and threats. He would soon discover he was not the only one. At its very core, this story is about who you believe and why. It's an epic battle that would take a group of strangers, citizens, sleuths from around the world to crack the case and finally hold someone accountable. So there are new episodes of his podcast called Love Trapped, and they are released every. Every Thursday. And these episodes started back in February 26th of 2026. So just pretty recently, he's been having these episodes come out. The host of the. Of the podcast is Stephanie Young, but it's featuring Clayton Eckard. And the way I understand it is she is the main host, but she's asking him a lot of questions. And so he's part of every episode, but he's answering in depth questions about what we're about to talk about.

[Shane]

Something to bring to the podcast.

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah.

[Emily Simpson]

All right, let's just. Before we bring him on and start asking him questions about this case, let's go through. Let's do a brief timeline and a little brief background on this. So back in 2021, Clayton Eckard is chosen to be a contestant on The Bachelorette season 18 on ABC. I don't. There's a lot of seasons. It's almost like Housewives Season 20, Real Housewives of Orange County. In 2022, after he was eliminated from the Bachelorette, Clayton was chosen to be the star of the Bachelor. So now we get to season 26. Fans deemed him one of the worst bachelors in the franchise's history because he told all three of his final contestants that he was in love with him.

[Shane]

Oh, yeah.

[Emily Simpson]

His number one choice, Susie Evans, ended up leaving the show.

[Shane]

Yeah. Didn't he have three number ones, though?

[Emily Simpson]

I guess he had three number ones, but. Well, I guess he told all three that he was in love with them. But then I guess maybe he also. Well, you can ask him that he's gonna come on. His number one choice, Susie Evans, ended up leaving the show because of this. You know, that's the thing. That's when you. When you are alone and someone says, I love you, I'm in love with you, and then you get to watch the episodes and you also see him saying, I love you, I'm in love with you.

[Shane]

You know, two other women, more personal than Housewives.

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah.

[Emily Simpson]

You're like, wow, I thought we had a connection. I guess not. So she ended up leaving the show. Clayton sent the other two contestants home after this and left this season without an engagement. You know, I don't Know, maybe. Maybe he shouldn't be hated because of that. Maybe he should be embraced because he was like, I'm not going to go through with this. I'm just going to send everyone home. I mean, I know obviously for TV purposes they're pushing for an engagement at the end, but I don't know. Then we get to May of 2023. Clayton hooks up with Laura Owens. There you go. Here's the true crime people. If you have been sitting here wa for the true crime element of this podcast, we are getting there. Laura Owens is the name to remember. So he allegedly hooks up with Laura Owens at his apartment. They never had.

[Shane]

After the show.

[Emily Simpson]

This is after the show. We're in 2023 now. They never had penetrative sex.

[Shane]

Was she on the show?

[Emily Simpson]

No, she was not on the show.

[Shane]

So now this is real world dating.

[Emily Simpson]

This is real world dating. He's not on the show anymore. He's not the Bachelor. He's not in reality tv. Breaks up with the girl, huh?

[Shane]

He's a bachelor.

[Emily Simpson]

Yes, but like a common day civil.

[Shane]

He's back to civilian life.

[Emily Simpson]

He's civilian bachelor. All right, so he hooks up with this girl named Laura Owens at his apartment. The way I understood it was that she was reaching out to him. I believe it might have been on LinkedIn or something. And he was involved in real estate. I think he might be a real estate agent or something. I don't know. And I think she was telling him that she had some investment properties that she wanted to see, and so that's how she connected.

[Shane]

Yeah, a million bucks. If you look at her background, she's applied for the bachelor bachelorette.

[Emily Simpson]

So they never had penetrative sex. That's a key piece of evidence. You need to hold on to that. Put that in your mental file. But she gave him oral sex twice. You have no comment. I'm just. Laura Owens begins.

[Shane]

She buy a home.

[Emily Simpson]

Laura.

[Shane]

Is that his commission?

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah. See, I was waiting. You know, I. I gave you the pause. All right, Laura Owens begins making claims that she is pregnant with Clayton Eckard's child. Ten days after this, she sent him a picture of a positive pregnancy test and later took a pregnancy test at Clayton's home, which also turned out to be positive. I don't know if you watched her take it, though. I mean, you could say you're.

[Shane]

But was he drunk? Does he just. Was he convinced that he. Does he. Does someone need to talk to him

[Clayton Eckard]

about how it works?

[Shane]

I mean, what's going on here?

[Emily Simpson]

When I was Researching this.

[Shane]

Explain why he's a bachelor?

[Emily Simpson]

I don't know. When I was researching this, I was wondering the same thing. I was wondering how, if he knew they never had penetrated. I've never said this word before. I'm 50 years old. Is the first time I've ever said penetrative sex. But if he knew that they'd never had penetrative sex and he understands how babies are made, I don't know why he was entertaining anything this woman said. Anyway. But Clayton did not want to pursue a relationship with her. But she continued to blow up his phone and email trying to convince him otherwise. Eventually, Laura Owens files a lawsuit seeking child support from Clayton Eckard. All right, so six months after she files this and allegedly still being pregnant this entire time, she drops the child support claim stating that she had suffered a miscarriage.

[Shane]

How could she get. Can you get child support before the child's born?

[Emily Simpson]

Well, no, she.

[Shane]

She was aggressively going after him.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure she's filing it. I.

[Shane]

There was no baby, and there was no miscarriage.

[Emily Simpson]

Well, let's get to that. Investigators continue reviewing the evidence tied to the alleged false claims. Authorities later say that she altered an ultrasound image and created a fabricated pregnancy video to support the claim. I think. I believe she found a pregnanc video on YouTube and showed him like that. Like that was the video of the thing.

[Shane]

It wouldn't be hard these days to do anything.

[Emily Simpson]

No. With AI and all the videos out there, you just.

[Shane]

You just go on Instagram, find someone's gender reveal, and, you know, screenshot their ultra.

[Emily Simpson]

Did you see that article? It's always on Facebook. Facebook has the worst AI generated articles. There was the. The article.

[Shane]

Funny is you have an opinion on which social media sources.

[Emily Simpson]

Facebook is the worst. No, I'm serious.

[Shane]

A ranking?

[Emily Simpson]

Yes. Facebook is by far the worst. Anytime I scroll Facebook, there's so many AI generated fake articles. And there was the one about Gina and Travis, and it showed them holding a picture of an ultrasound, and it said, yeah, have you seen that one?

[Clayton Eckard]

No.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, that's why. That just made me think of, like, how easy it is to generate images. Were they happy?

[Shane]

Was it a boy or a girl? I don't know. How many weeks is she?

[Emily Simpson]

I don't know. I'll ask her. I think she was very excited about it.

[Shane]

You're very interested in his dating life.

[Emily Simpson]

I am. Prosecutors also alleged that she lied multiple times under oath about the pregnancy. So then In June of 2024, she's actually indicted a seven count indictment is issued against Laura Owens in Maricopa County, Arizona, and prosecutors accuse her of false testimony and fabricating evidence related to the pregnancy claim. After this indictment is announced, Clayton posts a video statement saying the legal battle lasted two years and that he feels relieved that the matter is resolved. Clayton maintain means he is. He was never in a relationship with Laura Owens. So, all right, that's a little background, a little bio, a little timeline on this so that our. Our listeners have some background. And now Clayton is here. So let's bring him on and start asking him these questions. Let's get more in depth in this. Hi, Clayton. How are you?

[Clayton Eckard]

Great. How you doing?

[Emily Simpson]

Good. Well, thank you so much for coming on Legally Brunette today. We really appreciate it. I will tell you, I took a little deep dive into your case when you were going to come on previously, and I was. I. I was baffled by the lengths that this woman went to. But you know what? I'm going to let you tell your story. I'm baffled by it, but I'm interested in hearing your side and your takeaway from everything. So I know that you've come out with this new podcast called Love Trapped, and it's your side of the story. And I also heard that you were hesitant to do this podcast at first. How do you feel about that now?

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah, I mean, I'm very grateful that I decided to go for it. My hesitancy lied and the impact that it could make, because for me, it was a matter of, hey, I won over the court of public opinion, and I won in court as well, the majority of it. At this point, I'm not fighting her any longer. It's more the county attorney is. But I was weighing like, hey, is it worth me, you know, rehashing all this all over again? I mean, it's going to bring a new news cycle. It's going to put things back on the top of Google search. So when you Google my name, this is going to be the stuff that comes up. And, you know, I had to weigh those options because professionally, if somebody Googles my name, you know, these. This is what's going to be the first thing to pop up. So I wasn't too enthusiastic about the podcast because I just felt that it wasn't going to do much was my thought for me or just really even for moving the needle for the other victims, I felt like we were on the right track. So I didn't think a podcast was going to add anything additional. It's performed extremely well, so it has gotten a lot of New eyes about, new audience on it. And it's been, it's been told the right way. And that was my biggest concern, was basically giving my story, story to editors once again and producers and saying, hey, I got issues trusting you all. Nonetheless, I don't want to believe you're all the same. So if you can tell this story as it is, both the good and the bad. I'm not asking to be portrayed as a saint. I just want to be portrayed as I am. If you guys can do this, that'd be great. And they did. They've, they've, they've told it in a way that I feel is as, as unbiased as it can be. So it's really helped out with, with portraying me in a more fuller light. I think reality television can only show so much. So I really do feel like this has helped capture more of who I am.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, obviously I've been on reality TV for a long time as well, and sometimes I feel like it only, it only shows you in a very one dimensional light. You know, they pick and choose what they want to show. Obviously there's a myriad of things and complexities about all of us and it doesn' always end up on screen. But you know, I was told with your podcast that it's very well done because it's more in depth than like a regular podcast, that it's almost like documentary style that you're actually pulling in, like your lawyer comes on and they're pulling in like emails you've had with this woman. And so you're bringing not only just your thoughts and opinions on things, but you're actually pulling in a lot of evidence as well as part of the podcast. And that's really interesting that, that you've done that. Was that your idea or was that just something that just kind of evolved over conversations about it?

[Clayton Eckard]

No, that was with Glass. When they approached me as a production company, they said, hey, we want to do a podcast. The goal would be to obviously be able to segue this into a documentary. I told them, well, hey, look, like for me, for it to be worth my time and for it to move the needle, I only really want to do a documentary. I'm not too excited about the podcast. They said, well, hey, look, we do this differently. Here's an example of like our podcast or one that we've done. So take a listen to it. I listened to that and I was like, I remember I turned it on and the setting was like in a city somewhere. And you heard the car horns beeping and people talking on, walking on the streets. And I'm like, oh. I was like, this is storytelling. This isn't a podcast. Like, so that's why I went back with them to. I said, hey, look. Like, oh, this is more like a storytelling podcast. Like, yeah, no, no, this isn't a sit down. You know, it really. We really. This is the way that we do our podcast. So there it was, their idea. And then Stephanie Young, she was hired on as the producer. And she's just done such an incredible job. The reason why it's just so well put together is because of how much she cares. She, without saying too much, she's been in the business for quite some time, and I think she's got a little bit of a chip on her shoulder. She's been ready to be able to produce something and show people her talents. So she leaned into all of this. She's interviewed me for 30 hours alone. Like, just me. And I'm just one part of the equation. So she's been calling me some nights at 9 o'. Clock. I mean, she doesn't stop working. And that's what was needed because this story is so convoluted. So I told her when she got into it, I said, look, I don't. You're gonna have to dive deep. Like, this isn't just like a scratch the surface. You won't do the story justice if you do it that way. She took that on as a challenge, and she has become nearly obsessed with telling the story. Healthy obsession. But it's been incredible. I mean, she's the reason why it's doing so well.

[Emily Simpson]

That's great.

[Roald Dahl Podcast Narrator]

You know Roald Dahl, the writer who thought up Willy Wonka, Matilda and the bfg. But did you know he was also a spy?

[Emily Simpson]

Was this before he wrote his stories?

[Keep It Positive Sweetie Host]

It must have been.

[Roald Dahl Podcast Narrator]

Our new podcast series, the Secret World of Roald Dahlia is a wild journey through the hidden chapters of his extraordinary, controversial life. His job was literally to seduce the wives of powerful Americans.

[Shane]

What?

[Roald Dahl Podcast Narrator]

And he was really good at it. You probably won't believe it either.

[Clayton Eckard]

Okay, I don't think that's true.

[Roald Dahl Podcast Narrator]

I'm telling you, the guy was a spy. Did you know Dahl got cozy with the Roosevelts, played poker with Harry Truman, and had a long affair with a congresswoman. And then he took his talents to Hollywood, where he worked alongside Walter Disney and Alfred Hitchcock before writing a hit James Bond film. How did this secret agent wind up as the most successful children's author? Ever. And what darkness from his covert past seeped into the stories we read as kids. The true story is stranger than anything he ever wrote. Listen to the Secret World of Roald Dahl on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Bob Pittman]

Hi, I'm Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia, and I'm kicking off a brand new season of my podcast Math and Stories from the Frontiers of Marketing. Math and Magic takes you behind the scenes of the biggest businesses and industries while sharing insights from the smartest minds in marketing. I'm talking to leaders from the entertainment industry to finance and everywhere in between. This season of Math and Magic I'm talking to CEO of Liquid Death, Mike Cesario, financier and public health advocate Mike Milken. Take Two Interactive CEO Straus Zelnick.

[Clayton Eckard]

If you're unable to take meaningful creative risk and therefore run the risk of making horrible creative mistakes, then you can't play in this business.

[Bob Pittman]

Sesame Street CEO Sherry Weston and our own Chief Business Officer Lisa Coffey.

[Keep It Positive Sweetie Host]

Making consumers see the value of the human voice and to have that guaranteed human promise behind it really makes it

[Emily Simpson]

rise to the top.

[Bob Pittman]

Listen to Math and Magic stories from the frontiers of marketing on the iHeartRadio app. Apple Podcasts are wherever you get your podcast.

[Keep It Positive Sweetie Host]

A ambitious, well intentioned, ferocious and wealthy

[Emily Simpson]

mother looks like in the Black community

[Keep It Positive Sweetie Host]

this Woman's History Month the podcast Keep It Positive Sweetie celebrates the power of women, choosing healing, purpose and faith. Even when life gets messy, love. It's not a destination.

[Emily Simpson]

You have to work on it every day.

[Keep It Positive Sweetie Host]

Keep It Positive Sweetie creates space for honest conversations on self worth, love, growth and navigating life with grace and grit, led by women who uplift, inspire and tell the truth out loud.

[Emily Simpson]

I have several conversations with God and

[Keep It Positive Sweetie Host]

I know why it took 20 years to hear this and more. Listen to Keep It Positive sweetie on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcast.

[Amber Grimes]

It's the new me and it's the old them.

[Emily Simpson]

Everybody's on their journey and your journey is different to theirs.

[Amber Grimes]

This Women's History Month the podcast if youf Knew Better with Amber Grimes spotlights women who turn missteps into momentum and lessons into power.

[If You Knew Better Guest]

I think coming out of where I

[Emily Simpson]

came from, I'm from the Bronx.

[If You Knew Better Guest]

I think I grew up really poor. I didn't know that then because I very much use my creativity to romanticize life and I'm like, my mom did a really good job of like, you step back and you're like, whoa, we. I don't know how we made it. So a lot of my life was like, built out of, like, survival to get to the next place. Like, my drive, my, like, tunnel vision of like, I gotta be better, I gotta achieve this was off the strengths

[Emily Simpson]

of, like, I want to make a

[If You Knew Better Guest]

better life for us.

[Amber Grimes]

If you Knew Better brings real talk from women who've lived it, unpacking, career pivots, relationship lessons, and the mindset shifts that changed everything. Listen to if youf Knew Better with Amber grimes on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[Bleacher Report App Promoter]

The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real time scores, breaking news and highlights all in one, one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.

[Emily Simpson]

You know, you talked about storytelling, so why don't we go back a little bit Just for the listeners that we have. We did a little brief overview of like, what it is that you've gone through, but it was very brief before we brought you on. Why don't we go back and just as, as, as much as you want to get into, why don't we tell the story? Like, how did she initially reach out to you? Um, let's just give our listeners a little bit of, from your perspective.

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah, I'll, I'll try to do the 30,000 foot view and just, yeah, sorry, I'll just give you the basics. But essentially she reached out to me on LinkedIn. I just got my real estate license. She said that she was looking to buy multiple investment properties. So I fed her my contact information. She started texting me. She was flirty out the gate. It wasn't anything I wasn't used to. I was like, that's fine, as long as she's going to buy property. I don't care if there's a little bit of like flirtatious, you know, it doesn't matter to me. That led to. Then one night I had taken an edible. I was dealing with some stuff, you know, from the reality TV show, Seeing an ex Girlfriend, and I was using marijuana to cope in that environment. That night, she sent me a provocative video photo. I think it was a video, but it was not that provocative. But in that state of mind, it, you know, a male's mind goes a long way. I basically told her to come over. She came over, we hooked up, we didn't have sex. She performed oral twice, and then 11 days later, she claimed she was pregnant. How does that happen? I thought that she potentially ran to the bathroom. This because she did. She ran to the bathroom the second time that she performed oral. I thought she might have spit it in her hand, shoved it up her. Google said that there was a small percentage chance if transferred quick enough, that you could be become pregnant that way. So while I knew we didn't have sex, I thought she transferred my fluids fast enough and she trapped me. And that's why, you know, the podcast is called Love Trapped, because of the term trapping. It's not. I don't think most people know that term, are aware of it. I first became aware of it in college when I played football at Mizzou. It's the idea of somebody basically latching on to an individual that has success or fame or money, whatever it might be. And they look, they basically trap them by latching on to them by, you know, whether it's. They get pregnant. So then they. They say, oh, hey, like, now I'm going to be able to live this lifestyle along with you because you're about to get drafted into the NFL or they have fame and so they want to be adjacent to them. So that's where the title came from, was the. The. The, you know, the trapping terminology. And I thought that's what she did, obviously against my will, I didn't want to have a child with her. She essentially said, if you date me, I will have an abortion. If you don't date me, I'll have the children. You know, I told her, I'm not going to date her. She can do whatever she wants. And then she decided, when, you know, I wasn't playing her game, that she would raise the standards or raise the stakes. And so she took it public first, anonymously. Well, I guess she always took it anonymously, but she took it anonymously. The only thing she didn't realize was the power of the Internet. She was posting stuff online. And we had a public court case that she had opened up before she went public by serving me paternity papers, which she had police officers served to me at my house. That opened a court case. The whole thing she was trying to do is just get me to talk to her and interact and basically stay in my life. So that I could not avoid her. Even when I blocked her phone numbers or emails, she was still trying to find a way to antagonize me. Well, because that was a public court case, I had went online and essentially said out loud, hey, I have an active court case against this individual. And the Internet sleuths, you know, within seconds ran, found it, found her name and that made everything public. So from there it was just a matter of getting her to prove that she was ever pregnant. She never could. She had, you know, 13 different doctors or so that she claimed she saw. They said they've never had any record record of her outside of her scheduling exams and never actually showing up. And so yeah, from there, I mean, we found out when she went public there was multiple other victims. We know at this point, I mean there's two others that are public alongside me, but there's two others beyond that that just don't want to come forward at this time. And, and we've heard there's multiple other victims as well that maybe weren't exactly, you know, she didn't, she didn't state she was pregnant by them, but she's antagonized other people. She's very litigious. And so, yeah, so that's where we're at today. We won in court a year ago to prove that she wasn't pregnant. And then now we, what we have coming up is the county attorney is prosecuting her at the end of July.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, I did read that the, that the DA then sent like all her information or, or latched on to it. As far as just was prosecuting her beyond you and your lawsuit with her, Was it the Internet sluice online that found the other victims? Because you know, the Internet. Can I always call the Internet a double edged sword? You know, if they hate you, it's awful, but if they love you and they're trying to protect you, they can really like, they can work magic. So was that helpful to have that many people invested? I'm sure it, you know, they, they probably came up with a lot of information.

[Clayton Eckard]

Oh yeah, they did. You know, the best thing was, is. Well, to answer your question, no, they didn't. They. Well, they uncovered a couple guys but they've, they chose not to like. Those are the guys that are still private. So those names were fed to like me and some other people in my camp. But we, out of respect, it's like, hey, they don't want to be public. So those names that never leaked, which I also think is incredible. You know, this was a very supportive community. That's like, hey, we'll support you if you want support. If not, if you want to be left alone, we'll leave you alone. I found out about the other victims because I went into. When she went public, I was reached out to by the previous victims. Then girlfriend at the time, now wife. But she reached out to me and said, hey, you're not alone. You need to look into this. You know, look at this. Look up this court case in the system. So I went in the next day and pulled it up. Sure enough, it was like a carbon copy of what I was going through. And then when I was in those documents, I saw another name of a previous victim. So then I was like, oh my gosh, there's two more. I then reached out to the previous victim. We hopped on the phone, he called, said, yes, you know, there was a previous victim as well that I'm aware of. And so that's, that's where I found out about the previous guys. That being said, the greatest thing that the Internet sluice provide is constant surveillance on her. She doesn't have a job, so she doesn't. This is what she does full time. She antagonizes men and tries to destroy them. And her family is, you know, complicit in her behavior. They basically fund her antics by allowing her to stay in their guest home and her mom helps her and her whole family is just bad people. So they, the problem was, is that she'd be, you know, slugging her energy drinks, you know, doing this stuff 24 7. And I couldn't. I had a job, I have a life. You know, I have multiple things in my going on in my life. So I couldn't keep up with her antics. But once the Internet got involved, I mean, they're picking apart every single thing that she was putting out there because she was using Reddit at first to funnel her side of the story. But like, for example, she tried to do a name change. They caught it within the same day. So she was trying to cover up her tracks, change her name. They caught her right away. They've obviously then collected all of her, all of her statements. And anytime she says something that's that contradicts something from earlier, they'll highlight it, they'll post it online. So they've caught her on all of her bs. And a lot of that information was then fed to the prosecution or even my lawyer at the time. I mean, this was just like information constantly being gathered. And it really just made for simplicity. It's like, you know, this information is provided to my lawyers. My lawyers take it and slam dunk it.

[Emily Simpson]

Now, let me ask you. The other men that she also did this to, were they public figures? Are you the first public figure that she's done this to?

[Clayton Eckard]

The other two that are public are not public figures. So they're the ones that we're aware of, the ones that have names have been leaked out. But the other two guys, now, they're both, like, private individuals as well. So I was the first person. Yeah. That had. That, I guess was deemed a public.

[Emily Simpson]

You know, when I think about it, the way I look at it, I feel like she got a lot of practice on some other men and she wasn't. And she. You know, she got away with it. Right. It's not like there was any repercussions of anything that she was doing. And I felt like she was very well practiced in what she was doing. And then, you know, you're a public figure. She was. Obviously had some kind of obsession with you, and then she utilizes those same tactics on you. Yeah, I mean, I would assume. I. I don't know. Do you regret being on the Bachelor? Do you regret being the Bachelor, or do you just regret saying, yeah, come over? Is that.

[Clayton Eckard]

That's. No, I don't actually regret any of it. Not even, like, having her come to my place. And the reason for that is because ultimately, like, to be able to instill hope back in the previous victims, I mean, for them to say, like, hey, for the first time, I actually feel like this may be over, because they've been fighting with her since, you know, the first victim, since 2016. You're talking 10 years.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah.

[Clayton Eckard]

She's just constantly reinstating restraining orders and sending letters and phantom phone calls, and we get these random text messages that we can't prove for her, but, like, it's definitely her, because I'm getting up some of the previous victims, and. And so she's just never willing to just go away. And so for me, you know, it's. It's been so worth it to be able to, like, like, really feel that from the previous victims, to be like, oh, I've been able to help reinstill some hope. And it's also just allowed for other people that have went through something similar to. To band together the community. The justice for Clayton is the name of it. You know, people said, hey, should we make it something different? I was like, look, I. It wouldn't. It's become bigger than me. I mean, I. I guess for the sake of simplicity, just keep it what it was originally named. But what's really cool about it is how it's brought people from all different walks of life together that have experienced all different types of trauma. The biggest mistake Laura made was she fabricated a bunch of claims that were really severe and that people have actually experienced. So she hasn't, but they have, you know, so abortion and rape and what else, like pregnancy loss and cancer. And she's. She's claimed all of these things. And what she did was she was pushing people's buttons, you know, so that every time she would claim something new, someone would come in and say, you know, I actually went through a domestic, you know, abuse.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Clayton Eckard]

And this pisses me off. You know, I don't want someone to be able to get away with this because she has no idea what it's like to go through this. So because she was pushing all these hot buttons, she just basically got everyone to become together and fight against her and fight against evil, which is what she is and what her family is. And they've never had accountability because they're this wealthy family from San Francisco that's always been able to pay their way or influence their way out of stuff. And so someone that's never faced accountability, you know, they. This is what.

[Emily Simpson]

What.

[Clayton Eckard]

What comes of them. And so it's just. It's been incredible with all the supports, but it's. And, yeah, I don't regret any of it, because for me, it was all for a bigger purpose.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah. You know, I expected you to say yes, I wish this woman never came into my life. That would be the. A logical answer, I would think. But I love that you said no, that I feel like this was. It's almost like you're a vigilante in this. Like, this was. The only way this woman would ever be brought down is by you being in the position that you're in and you being a public figure and allowing the Internet to be involved in it and. And social media and all the things. And it brought such a huge highlight to it. If she would have done this again to just your regular civilian guy, she would have just kept doing it over and over and over. But the fact that she. That she did this to you has brought such an awareness to it and such a public following of it that I think this will probably be the first time that she ever has to actually answer or be accountable for any of. So I love. I love that you're saying, I don't regret it because I feel like this is the only opportunity that you and the other victims would have to actually bring her down and make her accountable for once.

[Shane]

Well, I think it would have put a stop to her.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Shane]

Because now she. If she were to have another victim following you, she has a history and people will see where it's going. So she's kind of been outed by you.

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah. And she was. Went back on dating apps. I mean, while she was still being looked at by prosecution. She's. She's. She's not stopping. So she's still, even with all of this heat, is still back on dating apps and looking for her next victim. So the only way to stop her is to put her behind bars. And that's what she's facing at this point is the 14 felony charges. It doesn't. She was offered a plea deal. It doesn't seem like she's going to take one. So it looks like she's going to fight this all the way to court, which is fine. I'll testify against her at the end of July as well, the previous victims. But, yeah, I mean, she was going to keep going. And ultimately, like, like, what this also helped accomplish. Like, I know that somebody might go, like, he probably doesn't want this stain on his record, but I honestly have seen this as a more of. More and more of a positive thing because I. I really pushed for authenticity, and I wasn't, you know, I wasn't able to fully be myself on the Bachelor. I was holding back. I was being something I thought society wanted me to be, not being actually who I was, you know, know, and so I. But I've always been, you know, trying to show people, like, hey, put. You know, put me on a pedestal. Don't kick me in the corner. Like, put me somewhere in the middle. Like, see me as I am. And that's what this podcast has accomplished. It's like, I, like, I said, I told the producers, I said, you don't need to make me a saint. I'm not one. I never claim to be one. But also, like, this monster that people claim that I was from the Bachelor is absolutely ridiculous. Like, I'm not a monster, you know, but I want people to just, like, see, like, that, hey, I'm not willing. I don't knock, hide what I am. I am what I am. And I think if we were all just a little bit more honest and transparent, like, you know, how far that can go. And that's what I've seen from the feedback on, you know, the podcast is like, people, like, it's Refreshing that he's just an open book. And I'm like, look, like, this is what I'm trying to spread is like, we don't need to be perfect. There's this like, belief now that everybody we watch on tv, like, you have to uphold this image. There's that pressure by contestants that go on tv. I have to be presented this way. I have to be this saint. And it's like, it's not real. It's just not real, you know, and so I, I think, like, it's, in a way this has also helped out in that regard because people are like, yeah, I mean, look, he owns up to it, you know. And I'm like, yeah, I, I had her over. If she wasn't crazy, I would have never regretted it anyways. Right? Like, I don't regret it still, but it's like all I did was hook up with a girl. I didn't do any. I didn't commit a crime. So anybody that tries to victim blame me, it's like, what, you're just, you're just projecting because I didn't do anything that any other 32 year old male you know hasn't done.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, exactly. Now when you talk about that night that you hooked up and she came over and I know that you didn't have sex with her, Was that intentional? Because we were having a conversation about the whole trap thing and I know that you had played professional football, so you were, you were out there, you were in that, you know, environment with the women and what do they call them? Ho pros. She was a ho pro. You never heard that before.

[Clayton Eckard]

I've heard jersey chaser is what we, we call it.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, I've heard Hope rose. So I was, Was that like an intentional choice that night? Because you're like, I am who I am, so.

[Clayton Eckard]

No, that's what, that's what's, that's what spun me out a little bit. It didn't make sense was I was willing to have sex with her that night and she wasn't. She said, you know, hey, I'm not, I don't want to have sex. Like, you know, you got to work for it. And something along those lines. So I was like, I got to get pregnant first.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, that's.

[Clayton Eckard]

But that was the thing was like, like, I obviously was like, wait. She even brought that up to me. She's like, if I wanted to get pregnant by you, I would have sex with you. And I was like, yeah, that's a good point. So I was thrown off. But what I. The conclusion I came to was she, I think, was surprised that I. Well, she was surprised. I could tell by her demeanor. She was surprised that I invited her over. And then when she came over, like we had, you know, before we hooked up, like we were talking about mental health and we're having these deep discussions. And I think what happened was she said, oh, like, actually there's a lot of chemistry here and this could potentially work. We could date. And so for her, then it shifted into, instead of just hooking up with this guy, like, I, we could potentially date. I'm not going to give it all up to him in one night. So that's why she held off, in my opinion. And then the next day when I abruptly cut it off and was like, hey, that was a mistake. I crossed professional boundaries. I don't want to continue in anything with you in that capacity. I'm willing to pass you off to another agent. But like, for me, I want to keep it just professional from here on out. And she proceeded to cry and was like, I thought we had something special. And like, you, I've never, you know, I can help you out, become the person that you want to be. And like, we just have so much, you know, that we've lived through similar experiences. And, you know, that was when I was like, oh, shoot, this is, this is weird. You know, like, I just met this girl and she's crying, bawling her eyes out. But yeah, I think that's, that's why she was, she was like, oh, I think I might be able to date this guy. So she decided to, to not, not give it all up in one night.

[Emily Simpson]

But, but let me ask you something about that. If she is, if you're having conversations and she's willing to admit that you didn't have sex and you're talking about how she didn't want to have sex that night because she felt like there was going to be some potential for a long term relationship. Then when she's presenting you with like a pregnancy test and telling you she's pregnant, did she explain to you how that happened then?

[Shane]

I mean, did you push back on how did you become pregnant? And then she.

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, at first I just told her to like, piss off. I mean, I didn't say that exactly, but I was just like, like, I was like, you're ridiculous. We didn't have sex. But she first texted me and said, you know, that night I, I went back to that night and played and played it all out. And I remember when I Went to the bathroom. I felt some of your fluids down there. She's like, so when we were grinding on each other, you know, you had pre. Came. And I was like, that's not true. You know, I was like, I can, I can. I wasn't. I told her. I was like, to be honest with you, I was not that excited.

[Emily Simpson]

Oh.

[Clayton Eckard]

And so I said like, that's, that's not, that's not the case. She's like, no, you had fluid down there.

[Emily Simpson]

There.

[Clayton Eckard]

You know, she went online at one point, was like, he doesn't remember because he was super high. Then people was like, they're like, wait, so he was too high to consent. So now you've, you know, they were obviously like, they were walking down that path. And she back. It was like, no, I was high too, and I don't remember. So she was just going back on her stories, but she claimed that when we were grinding, that's when the fluid entered her.

[Emily Simpson]

Okay, so she did have some type of exclamation explanation that she gave you as to how it could potentially happen. So.

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah. And then, you know, but then she said, you know, one of the emails that has gotten out that, I mean, blew people away was she was trying to turn me on through an email to get me to like, she's like, we should date for a week. And I, I. She's like, you know, maybe you would believe that I hadn't had sex in a year if you felt how tight I was. And, you know, so she had given away at that point, was like, wow, well, so you're saying I haven't felt it. It, but once I feel it, then I would know. So you just basically admitted that I've never been inside you. Because if I felt this, you would. If I felt tight, you were. So she just kept, you know, tripping over herself, you know, trying to, you know, trying to stay on top of her lies. But at this point, I mean, I just. It blows my mind. I mean, she gets caught in lie after lie after lie. She's now in bankruptcy court. She's. And she's just like, she's getting caught in lies there too, which that might be. Be a bigger downfall for her.

[Emily Simpson]

So. So she is. So you're saying you don't think she's going to take a plea deal, so she's actually slated to go to trial in May. Is that what you said?

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah. And. And my. I'm still trying to get more information on it, but there's something happening on April 9th, and I, I'm as a victim, I'm, I'm able to be heard. So if I was told if there is a plea deal offered or if there is like a negotiation, that I will be able to be present and offer my opinion, which I will absolutely do. Because I, I, I'll just put it this way. I'm not supposed to talk about the plea deal. I was advised not to by my lawyer. But I'm not, I'm not really, like, enthusiastic about what was offered. It's, it's not, it's not the worst thing. It's, there's accountability, but it's not to the degree that I wanted.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah, Now I know. So when she first started to go public, was the public opinion was against you? Correct. And people, I think people really believed her. What was the turning point where people started to really catch on and think this, this girl's, you know, lying about all this?

[Clayton Eckard]

I mean, for me, I felt like I, I go back and I read the, you know, I, or I see people talking like, you know, oh, we, we, we, we realized she was lying right away. But I'm like, okay, maybe a few of you. But the mass majority did not believe me until I had came back with the paternity test results. Like when I posted that online. Well, I guess I should say no. There was a pretty big switch once she went public. And then I, I posted that there were other victims like that. That was a big turning point. Right. When it went public, the other victims I posted on my story, that shifted a lot of people. And that actually probably was the turning point now that I think back at it, because it was like, oh, wait, there are other victims. And then that information got online and people were like, okay, well, you know, you get pregnant by a guy accidentally, okay, we could believe that. But now all of a sudden there's three and it's the same story. This isn't adding up.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. So you ended up. How did you take a paternity test?

[Clayton Eckard]

I just submitted my, my DNA. I, if I remember correctly, I think I.

[Emily Simpson]

But what were they comparing it against? Against if she was never actually pregnant.

[Clayton Eckard]

Right. So they took a DNA sample from her, like a cheek swab. I don't know, maybe they did something else for her. I did a cheek swab and basically send that in, and they're looking for DNA matches. So what happened? The result was it came back as little to no fetal DNA. And so I talked to the tester testing facility ravjn, and I was talking to one of the representatives and I Said, what does that mean? He goes, well, it just means, like, the sample. There wasn't enough DNA. And the sample. I said, okay, so she's not pregnant. He's like, well, we can't say that. Like, we'd have to test again. And I was like, okay. And then if we test again, it comes back the same thing. Then what? He goes, then we will test again. I was like, okay, then what happens after that? He's like, after. Like, the third time, we'd have to bring in our doctor and have them take a look because there'd be obviously some consideration as to why, you know, what's going on here. Why is there no fetal DNA? And I told him, I said, well, look, like she's not pregnant. That's why it's. That's why it's returning this way. Can you put that on paper for me? Like, that there's little to no fetal DNA. He said, no. He said, we can't do that. So. Because it's inconclusive. So I just decided to throw all my chips on black at that point. I'm like, look, I'm not gonna play this stupid game with her. She knew this. That's why she took the test, that it was never going to pop, positive or negative. So there's no. Never going to be a clear answer. So I said, forget it. You know, I'm just going to have my, you know, Maury moment, like, you are not the father. And I went on social media and I just made this video, and, you know, I exclaimed, everybody, that was little to no fetal DNA. And I was insinuating that it was all over because I was forcing it into it. At that point, I'm like, she's going to keep claiming that she, you know, the results were inconclusive, and da, da, da, and waste my time. And I just decided, look, like there's this is bs, like, she can't ever come. She's not gonna be able to show a positive test. And I. I mean, so I'm just gonna basically advance this and put it into it. So, yeah, I mean, that was the only way that I could prove that I wasn't the father. Because, I mean, that was it. The paternity test is the way there is.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah. So this is because she claims she had a miscarriage, right?

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah, eventually. Because what she. Again, her timelines and her, you know, what with keeping this. This act going. What happened was, is she went past the point at which it's like 23 weeks or. I mean, you can forgive me on the timelines. But there's a timeline apparently where beyond a certain point, if you have a miscarriage, you have to produce fetal death certificates. Well, she didn't know that. So she advanced past that point, went in court, said that she was like 28 weeks pregnant or whatever it was. And then when we started then pushing it to the judge like she needs to produce fetal death certificates, she backtracked and said, oh no, I, I, you know, I actually had a miss miscarriage earlier and she presented some photos of some bloody sacks that again, at this point was probably chat GPT or AI whatever. But yeah, she was, we were, we were, we were basically trying to stay ahead of her the entire time. We knew that she was going to lose the children or she was going to give them up for private adoption. So my lawyer came up with a great plan to basically file my name in the, it's like a registry. So basically it's like, it's a registry where if the children are given up for adoption, I have to be notified as the father. So we filed for that and it was smart. It took that, that out of her game plan. It's like now she can't just claim that giving them up.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Clayton Eckard]

Which she did end up sending me an email or somebody did anonymously. But it was definitely her, this person claiming that they had my children, that she, they adopted, you know, the children that she was going to go public. And I just responded back, I was like, do it, you know, do it. Like, go ahead. Because I knew it was her, but that was one of her game plans. But when we shot that down, it then became she's gonna have to just lose the children. But that's where she got caught up in her lies and you know, was in some hot water because it's like, okay, so where do the children go? If you want, if it's past that 23 week point.

[Emily Simpson]

Right.

[Clayton Eckard]

You got to produce documentation.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. So when she claims that she did have a miscarriage that I'm just trying to get the DNA wrapped around in my head. So when she claimed that she had a miscarriage, then the judge ordered that she had to do some type of DNA testing with whatever fetal was left within the womb kind of thing, and then that's where your DNA came in. Like they were looking for your DNA within her womb after a miscarriage. Is that. Yeah, I'm just trying to get the forensics down a little bit.

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah, it was, it wasn't. So it wasn't really like, I don't believe we Ever got to a court ordered paternity test. If I'm not mistaken, this is more like court of public opinion. So it was a matter of like when she went public eyes told her, I went on my social media and I was like, guys, I'm trying to do a paternity test. She keeps dodging it, she keeps, you know, canceling it. And so then she was on Reddit, like, no, I'm not canceling. He's lying. And so then I said, all right, guys. So I said, I scheduled my part. I said, so here it is. And I took a screenshot of the date, date and time. I said, I'm going in on this date and time. She now has to schedule her part. So I forced her hand and made her have to basically follow through. Otherwise if she didn't, people, you know, were going to realize that she was making it up. And she first canceled the first time people and like she canceled and she's like, no, I was just sick. And so we, the court was like, I was fighting in the court of public opinion. And we also had a court case at one point, the court case, like it was in the family court and it was, it was going to close, it was going to be dismissed because of, due to, due to inactivity. I wasn't okay with that because I was, I told my lawyer, I said, she's just going to let this fall off. And then there's always going to be this like, did Clayton get this woman pregnant or did he not? So I said, you know, I want to file documents to make her prove that she was never pregnant by me. So I want an order of non paternity. So we filed those documents and then the paternity test was just like additional, additional evidence that we were able to use in the court case. But I don't believe it was ever court mandate, if I'm not mistaken. I know we were getting close to saying, well, maybe we'll do that. But then I just used my, you know, I just used my social media account and put the pressure on her and then she took it. And then like the miscarriage happened like on the tail end of the court because she showed up in person and that's where shell sudden, she doesn't have a. The belly. There's no train.

[Emily Simpson]

Right. So she's like, so she had to have a miscarriage. There has to be a story to go with that. Right, Right. You know, I just, when you were talking about. Can I just ask a question about the Bachelor? Yeah, I just want to backtrack a little. Sorry. We were just talking about before you came on, I was reading about the Bachelor and how you were. You made a reference earlier to, like, you were like a monster. I guess that's. Was the. The public opinion at that time. Because you didn't choose anyone at the end, is that. Or I guess you told, like, multiple women that you loved them, and then they all saw it, and then you didn't choose anyone. You told them all to go home. Actually, I will tell you, when I was reading that, I actually found that refreshing because you were talking about authenticity, and I was like, I don't know. I find it kind of refreshing that he didn't get forced into something that he was, you know, supposed to do at the end of this show. And you basically were like, I'm not interested in any of them.

[Clayton Eckard]

Kind you. Yeah, a little bit. So it was a little, like, essentially, there were final three women. Yeah, I. I had been. I expressed feelings of love to all three and was intimate with two of them. And then one of the women, the girl that I ended up with, was not okay with that. And she was like, look, if you've done, you know, been intimate or expressed feelings of love, I. I can't move on with you. I can't move forward. And that's where there was a big disagreement between her and I on the show. And there was like, this Team Susie versus Team Clayton. You know, some people were like, that was wrong. Clayton, he should have, you know, protected her if he loved her the most. Because I had said that people were, you know, like, he loved her the most. You can't love multiple people. I'm like, yeah, go ahead and say that. From the outside, I thought the same thing until, like, I actually went through it. So there's plenty of cases of people being in polyamorous relationships. Like, it can happen. It's possible. But, of course, this is why the show is so popular. It's a show based on polyamory watched by monogamous audience. That's why it's so juicy. And why people watch it for all these years is because they're like, this is what I would do. You have no clue what you would do until you're in it. I said the same shit. I. On the outside. I was like, I wouldn't do it this way. And then you get in there and you're like, well, how do I do this? And they cut you off from your family, friends, and everybody, so you have nobody to turn to. And so you're Just like, well, I'll navigate this the best way that I can. The reason why I. I'm a little bit more, like, willing to kind of share the reason why. I was. I was not liked. I was not, like, from the jump. And that was because it was multifaceted, and it was unfortunate, but, like, there. Everyone's always looking for somebody to target their hatred towards. So I already was disliked because I was chosen over six men of color. That really rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. So I was going into the season with people being like, why do they choose this guy? They had all these better men that could have been chosen. And I agree they were great guys. A lot of these guys are still my friends. Ultimately, that was the producer choice and the. And. And. But whose shoulders does it fall on the guy that accepts the role? Because everyone's like, he took it from these men. I'm like, no, I didn't take it from these men. I just accepted the opportunity. Like, they didn't bring it. Didn't bring it to those guys. But that start that was. There was already hate there, and nobody, you know, liked me. And then once this producer saw that, they were like, hey, all. When it comes to reality television, it's love or hate. There is no. There is no. We don't want lukewarm feelings. We don't want people.

[Emily Simpson]

They like. They like polarizing.

[Clayton Eckard]

They like polarizing.

[Emily Simpson]

Whichever way it is, they don't care because it's.

[Clayton Eckard]

And that's what it was. Is like, basically, they wanted me to be, like, the guy that everybody liked. Like, I think the original plan for the producers was like, hey, we can make this guy, you know, he's. His head's in the right place. He can ride off in the sunset with the person that, you know, of his dreams, and then we can get our Bachelorette. But essentially, I kind of ruined those plans. Just. I just happened to take the person that they were looking to. Yeah, I'm saying too much.

[Emily Simpson]

That's okay.

[Clayton Eckard]

But essentially, there's just, like, there. There was a lot of. Also the script flipped, and then all of a sudden, everything went haywire, and they were like, look, you gave us all this. We can't not show it now. I mean, this is. This is an absolute train wreck, and people aren't going to like you. And, you know, I at the time was like, I don't give a shit. Like, I'm doing. I'm. I'm. This is my love story, and I'm doing the best with what I have, and I don't care about this audience. Like, this is me trying to find love. Well, that's just where all of a sudden when I gave them that, they're like, well, all right, you gave us all this stuff and like, we, again, we either going to make you the good guy or the bad guy guy. And it's people, you got to be

[Emily Simpson]

the bad guy and I got to

[Clayton Eckard]

be the bad guy.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah. Well, you know what? Thank you so much for joining us today. It was really interesting talking to you and hearing your perspective on everything and it's such an interesting case and I'm happy you have no regrets. And we're, we're going to follow this because I actually just from my perspective, would love to see her go to trial because I would be very interested in all the things. And so we will definitely follow this case and until the end and talk about it again. But I just want to remind everyone that your podcast is called Love Trap and if you just, you know, would like to say anything about it at the end here. Any final thoughts?

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah, I mean, look, the, the greatest thing people can do is give it a listen, give it a five star review. And that just helps, like, with more visibility. I mean, for me at this point, I hope that at the end of July this chapter of my life can close. I'm totally okay with like, this being the end of it and I don't need anything to come from it. I just, just want everything to be finished. What? This, you know, really, this. It's kind of a segue. The, the, the podcast, it's like leading up to this, this trial. And so the more visibility, the better. I mean, it put, it makes. It shows the prosecutors as well that it's like, hey, look, people are following this. So, like, justice needs to be served. There can't be just like all of a sudden this dropping of the case and we all move on. So the more visibility, that's all I can ask asked for people is like, just give it a listen. Just, just help us just carry this into the end of July so hopefully we get resolution, that's the end of it, and then all of us can move on. So that, that's what I would say about the podcast.

[Emily Simpson]

Yeah. Well, I'm very interested to see how this ends and we will definitely follow it. So thank you so much, Clayton, for being here on Legally Brunette. We really appreciate it.

[Clayton Eckard]

Yeah. Thank you guys.

[Shane]

Thank you.

[Clayton Eckard]

Bye.

[Emily Simpson]

Foreign. This is an Iheart podcast. Guaranteed human.