Closer than ever!

Clayton Echard and Susie Evans found love on Season 26 of “The Bachelor,” and while their journey to each other definitely had its highs and lows, they couldn’t be more in love.

As the two prepare for their cross-country road trip on their way to moving in together, their phones started to blow up over the weekend with tags and messages about cheating allegations against Clayton.

The couple stopped by the “Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation” podcast to discuss the false cheating accusations from a woman who alleged via TikTok that she hooked up with Clayton in New York City on Saturday.

Clayton and Susie both publicly responded to the allegations showing Clayton’s location and the time of their FaceTime calls to prove his innocence, and the woman eventually apologized, admitting it wasn’t Clayton, despite her initial thoughts.

And while Clayton and Susie seemingly can’t catch a break when it comes to criticism, the two said this situation actually brought them closer together.

They shared that they had different viewpoints at first on how to handle interacting with this woman.

Susie said, “It did lead to important conversations. For a little bit, Clayton thought I was being a little too compassionate for her. I was being nice to her because she was freaking out over all the hate she was getting, and she was scared. But I was like, ‘Well, you posted a public TikTok about ruining what you thought was an engagement.’”

She continued, “But at the same time, I also saw what Clayton went through with the show and all the horrible messages he got. We both agreed that we didn’t want her to go through trauma, even if she did make a really big mistake.”

Susie shared that this difficult situation and all the opinions from fans allowed them to discuss how they will handle situations like this going forward.

She said, “It just led to important conversations for us about how we navigate things like this in the future. It came down to pure trust between us, and I trust Clayton more than any guy I’ve ever met. He’s got the most pure intentions and genuine soul. It brought up conversations about how to deal with a public relationship. We came to this big realization that the only times we fight or argue, it’s never about us, it’s about the weird situations we have been thrown into because of our public relationship.”

Susie went on, adding, “We didn’t fight about this situation by any means, but we did have some tough conversations about what our expectations of each other are for the future. It’s such new territory and we don’t know who to lean on to navigate this stuff, so we just have to lean on each other.”

Clayton also chimed in, telling co-hosts Mike Johnson and Bryan Abasolo how he felt about the situation.

The former Bachelor said, “Every time we have conversations like this or face adversity, we find a way to overcome it. The biggest thing is that we don’t always see things the exact same way, but we always have an understanding of the other person and what their thoughts are.”

Susie said that they are stronger than ever as a couple and noted, “We are both invested in making this work and giving the other person what they need to feel secure.”

We’re glad the air is cleared on this situation and hopefully this was a lesson for everyone who saw the false accusation.

To hear more of Clayton and Susie’s conversation on this week’s “Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation” podcast, check out the full episode below.