Amid her breakup from Justin Glaze, Susie Evans is recalling her first public split, seemingly with Clayton Echard.
“I have regrets from how the last one went to be honest, even though I feel like I was mostly private about that too,” Evans, 31, said on the Friday, August 30, episode of the “Almost Famous” podcast.
She continued, “Even the little bit that you give to people — like the way people recap it or put their own twists on it, or make assumptions — it can just be perceived just in a way that you don’t want it to be.”
Evans vied for the affections of Echard, 31, on season 16 of The Bachelor in 2022. After he ended their relationship on the show, the pair reconnected but ultimately parted ways in 2022.
Following her split from Echard, Evans struck up a friendship with Glaze, 30. Fans were quick to suspect that there was something more to their relationship, but it wasn’t until January that the twosome took their romance public. “Justin is my boyfriend,” Evans told E! News at the time. “We’re dating.”
After months of Evans and Glaze sharing their relationship online, fans noticed that the duo stopped offering details earlier this summer. In August, Glaze exclusively told Us Weekly at The Famously Average Golf Tournament that he and Evans were taking things “day by day.”
Later that month, Glaze confirmed their separation. “Susie and I, we’re not together,” Glaze said on the “Almost Famous” podcast. “We are doing our best to — kind of, like I said —- protect each other, keep things private as we try to navigate what this looks like for us.”
Evans, for her part, noted that the breakup has been “painful” for both her and Glaze. “We’re both trying to navigate it and love each other through it,” she said on Friday. “We’re on great terms.”
When asked by cohost Ben Higgins whether she thought it was “worth it” to pursue a relationship with a friend, Evans got emotional.
“I think my honest truth on that is like absolutely, it’s worth it,” she said. “Justin and I’s friendship would have had to have changed regardless, like we were way too close for that to be normal if any of us started dating somebody else.”
Evans noted that the twosome was “basically dating but just not kissing” while they were friends.
“I think if you feel love for somebody and you think there might be more there, absolutely try for it,” she said. “Because what we did have in our relationship was so freaking fun, and like, it really was the best thing. I’ve never had somebody that’s been such a best friend that’s also become like a partner. It is really special, and I do think it can work with the right person and with the right tools and the right headspace and all that stuff.”
She continued, “So if it’s a special person to you, it’s totally worth it. And even if it’s just for a season of life, like, you might get the most wonderful season of your life.”