Biggest Bachelor Nation Stories of 2022: Clayton Echard Falling for 3 Women, Tino Franco’s Cheating Scandal and More
As always, Bachelor Nation delivered the drama in 2022. While the final rose led to several splits — and cheating scandals — other former Bachelor and Bachelorettes found their happily ever after this year.
2022 kicked off with Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor, which resulted in the first lead to “fall in love” with three contestants — Gabby Windey, Rachel Recchia and Susie Evans. Susie subsequently opted to remove herself from the series when she learned Clayton slept with Gabby and Rachel in the fantasy suites, leading to the “rose ceremony from hell” a.k.a. when the former football player informed the two finalists about what happened.
Clayton made things worse when he convinced Gabby and Rachel to stay, only to admit that he was still thinking about Susie. It worked out for him — for a bit — when the wedding videographer decided to give him another shot.
“I think we learned a lot from our discussions after the show more than anything. We didn’t hold back. We rehashed that entire night on several occasions and we both could have done better that night,” Susie, who told Clayton on the show that his having sex with another woman was a dealbreaker, said on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast in March. “I could have communicated it better. [Clayton] could have communicated better, [he could have been] more understanding of my perspective. We both learned so much. And watching it back, it was sad, and it was tough because I could see on Clayton’s face when I brought up that topic … you could see the devastation in his face and that realization of, like, coming back down or coming back over to the real world where I was living. It just broke my heart because I knew it was coming. So it was tough to watch.”
The twosome went on to date for several months, calling it quits in September after moving in together. Gabby and Rachel, meanwhile, were named the co-Bachelorettes for season 19. The decision marked the first time two people were both the lead for the entire season.
While the season resulted in two proposals — Gabby got engaged to Erich Schwer and Rachel accepted a Neil Lane diamond from Tino Franco — the ladies were single before the end of the year. Gabby and Erich’s breakup has been somewhat amicable while Rachel revealed Tino kissed another woman when the show was airing.
“There is no excuse for what you did. You broke my heart,” Rachel said during their tense After the Final Rose reunion, which aired in September, denying that they were ever “on a break” from their engagement.
Tino wasn’t the only one accused of cheating this year. Many fans were surprised when Victoria Fuller opted to return to the franchise for season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise — and even more shocked when she and Johnny DePhillipo got engaged. Their relationship quickly took a turn when she was seen out with alum Greg Grippo in Italy in October before the proposal aired. While Johnny has claimed that she was unfaithful, Victoria has maintained that she and Greg got together after she ended things with her ex-fiancé.
Scroll through for a full breakdown of the biggest Bachelor Nation stories of the year:
As always, Bachelor Nation delivered the drama in 2022. While the final rose led to several splits — and cheating scandals — other former Bachelor and Bachelorettes found their happily ever after this year.
2022 kicked off with Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor, which resulted in the first lead to “fall in love” with three contestants — Gabby Windey, Rachel Recchia and Susie Evans. Susie subsequently opted to remove herself from the series when she learned Clayton slept with Gabby and Rachel in the fantasy suites, leading to the “rose ceremony from hell” a.k.a. when the former football player informed the two finalists about what happened.
Clayton made things worse when he convinced Gabby and Rachel to stay, only to admit that he was still thinking about Susie. It worked out for him — for a bit — when the wedding videographer decided to give him another shot.
“I think we learned a lot from our discussions after the show more than anything. We didn’t hold back. We rehashed that entire night on several occasions and we both could have done better that night,” Susie, who told Clayton on the show that his having sex with another woman was a dealbreaker, said on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast in March. “I could have communicated it better. [Clayton] could have communicated better, [he could have been] more understanding of my perspective. We both learned so much. And watching it back, it was sad, and it was tough because I could see on Clayton’s face when I brought up that topic … you could see the devastation in his face and that realization of, like, coming back down or coming back over to the real world where I was living. It just broke my heart because I knew it was coming. So it was tough to watch.”
[jwplayer MZmlEvn1-zhNYySv2]The twosome went on to date for several months, calling it quits in September after moving in together. Gabby and Rachel, meanwhile, were named the co-Bachelorettes for season 19. The decision marked the first time two people were both the lead for the entire season.
While the season resulted in two proposals — Gabby got engaged to Erich Schwer and Rachel accepted a Neil Lane diamond from Tino Franco — the ladies were single before the end of the year. Gabby and Erich’s breakup has been somewhat amicable while Rachel revealed Tino kissed another woman when the show was airing.
“There is no excuse for what you did. You broke my heart,” Rachel said during their tense After the Final Rose reunion, which aired in September, denying that they were ever “on a break” from their engagement.
Tino wasn’t the only one accused of cheating this year. Many fans were surprised when Victoria Fuller opted to return to the franchise for season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise — and even more shocked when she and Johnny DePhillipo got engaged. Their relationship quickly took a turn when she was seen out with alum Greg Grippo in Italy in October before the proposal aired. While Johnny has claimed that she was unfaithful, Victoria has maintained that she and Greg got together after she ended things with her ex-fiancé.
Scroll through for a full breakdown of the biggest Bachelor Nation stories of the year:
As always, Bachelor Nation delivered the drama in 2022. While the final rose led to several splits — and cheating scandals — other former Bachelor and Bachelorettes found their happily ever after this year.
2022 kicked off with Clayton Echard’s season of The Bachelor, which resulted in the first lead to “fall in love” with three contestants — Gabby Windey, Rachel Recchia and Susie Evans. Susie subsequently opted to remove herself from the series when she learned Clayton slept with Gabby and Rachel in the fantasy suites, leading to the “rose ceremony from hell” a.k.a. when the former football player informed the two finalists about what happened.
Clayton made things worse when he convinced Gabby and Rachel to stay, only to admit that he was still thinking about Susie. It worked out for him — for a bit — when the wedding videographer decided to give him another shot.
“I think we learned a lot from our discussions after the show more than anything. We didn’t hold back. We rehashed that entire night on several occasions and we both could have done better that night,” Susie, who told Clayton on the show that his having sex with another woman was a dealbreaker, said on Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast in March. “I could have communicated it better. [Clayton] could have communicated better, [he could have been] more understanding of my perspective. We both learned so much. And watching it back, it was sad, and it was tough because I could see on Clayton’s face when I brought up that topic … you could see the devastation in his face and that realization of, like, coming back down or coming back over to the real world where I was living. It just broke my heart because I knew it was coming. So it was tough to watch.”
[jwplayer MZmlEvn1-zhNYySv2]The twosome went on to date for several months, calling it quits in September after moving in together. Gabby and Rachel, meanwhile, were named the co-Bachelorettes for season 19. The decision marked the first time two people were both the lead for the entire season.
While the season resulted in two proposals — Gabby got engaged to Erich Schwer and Rachel accepted a Neil Lane diamond from Tino Franco — the ladies were single before the end of the year. Gabby and Erich’s breakup has been somewhat amicable while Rachel revealed Tino kissed another woman when the show was airing.
“There is no excuse for what you did. You broke my heart,” Rachel said during their tense After the Final Rose reunion, which aired in September, denying that they were ever “on a break” from their engagement.
Tino wasn’t the only one accused of cheating this year. Many fans were surprised when Victoria Fuller opted to return to the franchise for season 8 of Bachelor in Paradise — and even more shocked when she and Johnny DePhillipo got engaged. Their relationship quickly took a turn when she was seen out with alum Greg Grippo in Italy in October before the proposal aired. While Johnny has claimed that she was unfaithful, Victoria has maintained that she and Greg got together after she ended things with her ex-fiancé.
Scroll through for a full breakdown of the biggest Bachelor Nation stories of the year:
After the finale aired, the season 26 Bachelor told Us that he doesn’t think he was really in love with all three of his finalists.
“Looking back at it all — in those moments, I believed it. I really did believe I was in love with them when I was there, on the show. But as I’ve now taken the time to reflect and look back, I believe that I got to the point where I was falling in love with everybody, but then it got to the point where I was only in love with Susie,” Clayton said. “[Now] I only think you can be in love with one person. You can fall for many, but you can only be in love with one. And that’s where I made a mistake. I was confused on the show, and I believed that I was in love with multiple women, but I’ve since realized that I don’t think I was.”
Fans were surprised when Susie was by Clayton’s side at his After the Final Rose in March, but by September, the twosome had called it quits.
“We know no healthy relationship comes without its struggles, but we’ve realized that we were not prepared for the external forces that hindered our ability to not only heal as individuals but also as a couple,” they said in a statement at the time. “We both are focused on continuing to work on ourselves, so we can be the best version of ourselves.”
Six years after they got engaged on season 12 of The Bachelorette — and after several coronavirus-related postponements — JoJo Fletcher and Jordan Rodgers wed at Sunstone Winery in Santa Ynez, California, on May 14.
After meeting on season 7 of BiP, Becca Kufrin flipped the script and proposed to Thomas Jacobs in May. He returned the favor with a ring for the former Bachelorette in October.
The Bachelor seasons 19 and 20 alum had been coy about her long-term relationship for nearly four years when she went public with Hayley Kiyoko in May via the singer’s “For the Girls” music video.
“I think the thing that really stood out to me the most was the realization of — I knew that so many people knew. Hayley and I would go to events and weddings and stuff together and I will always introduce her as my girlfriend,” Becca told Us in July of the reaction to their relationship. “But I was just overwhelmed that so many people, especially from the Bachelor world and people who knew about our relationship, had respected it up until the point that I was ready to say it. … So many [journalists] knew about it. And everyone gave me that respect. That was the biggest thing where I was like, ‘Wow, that was so cool, like, people were cool.’”
The Bachelorette season 18 couple called off their engagement in June.
“I miss the Michelle that I fell in love with. I’m not sure I miss the Michelle I broke up with,” Nayte Olukoya said on “Viall Files” in September. “Our relationship was tough. There’s lots of ups and downs, lots of arguments, lots of fights, and just not really clicking, not really seeing eye to eye. It was rocky. … Don’t get me wrong, we had amazing moments in between rockiness, but it was rocky.”
While neither Gabby nor Rachel found The One as they co-led season 19 of The Bachelorette, they’ve said their friendship is the real love story.
Tino admitted to kissing another girl amid a rough patch with Rachel, leading to their messy split.
“I do not stand by what I did at all. It was not cool. It wasn’t fair to Rachel. And it haunts me daily, still,” he admitted on “Viall Files” one month after the finale aired. “It’s something I’m ashamed of. And certainly, like, wish I could have done it differently, like, a million times over. … I’m trying to go through and unfold and figure out why my insecurities, my ego could just take over my actions like that and just led me down this path to go to rock bottom.”
Brandon Jones and Serene Russell made Bachelor Nation swoon when they fell fast on season 8 of BiP, getting engaged during the November finale.
“I had never had anybody look at me like [he did],” she gushed to Us at the time. “It’s one thing to experience someone’s words and then experience their actions. I’m getting it all from him at the same time. … He wears his heart on his sleeve and I never have to guess how he’s feeling. That’s something that I said I needed coming off of Bachelor. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do the guesswork. I want someone that’s gonna be intentional with me.’ … And that’s exactly [Brandon].”
The other engagement from season 8 of BiP didn’t have the same happy ending. After struggling when they left the beach, Johnny accused Victoria of cheating with Greg as they were spotted together while the show was still airing. She denied the claims — but she and the Bachelorette season 17 alum are still going strong.
Following in the footsteps of Bachelorettes before her, Gabby excelled on season 31 of Dancing With the Stars, finishing as the runner-up behind Charli D’Amelio in the November finale.
“Obviously, I wanted to win. I think everybody wants to win and Val [Chmerkovskiy] and I worked so hard,” she told Us in December. “Charli and Mark [Ballas] are incredible. They deserve it. Duh, I mean, she’s an amazing dancer and they performed so many great pieces and numbers. Even as her competition and a spectator, I love to watch her dance, so, you know, I was disappointed just because you want that for yourself, but honestly, like, I had a moment and then took a beat and I really feel like I did come out on top because of the experience itself. I maxed out on the number of weeks I was on it and I just came out with such a rewarding time in memory.”
After calling it quits for the second time in February 2021, fans were surprised when Peter Weber and Kelley Flanagan were spotted together in Chicago over the summer. Us confirmed in September that they were “full-on back together.”
“It’s been really, really special,” the pilot told Us exclusively in December. “I think we’re both enjoying how it’s been the second time around and things happen for a reason. And I can say I’m very happy.”
Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt, who got engaged on season 7 of BiP, quietly tied the knot at a New York City courthouse in October. The couple are planning a bigger ceremony in 2023.
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