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Fans of The Bachelor know producers often manipulate situations depending on what they believe gains the most ratings. This includes keeping certain contestants around even if the audience wonders why the lead doesn’t see what the rest of the fans see. However, this season’s Bachelor star, Clayton Echard, recently hinted at one rose he was forced to hand out.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for this season of The Bachelor with Clayton Echard.]

'The Bachelor' star Clayton Echard seen here in a white short sleeved polo hinted to fans that he was made to keep Shanae Ankney around.
Clayton Echard | ABC/John Fleenor

Fans were baffled at ‘The Bachelor’ star Clayton Echard’s reason for keeping Shanae Ankney around

Every season of The Bachelor has a villain, but this season’s villain might have gone overboard with her bad behavior. Shanae Ankney quickly assumed the role after the season’s first trouble-maker, Cassidy Timbrooks, got sent home due to some scandalous texts with another man. In one of the first episodes, Shanae claimed that fellow contestant Elizabeth Corrigan bullied her. However, audiences saw something completely different. 

After Elizabeth attempted to explain why she possibly ignored Shanae in an earlier conversation, the Ohio native snarkily commented on Elizabeth’s ADHD diagnosis. “I’m not sure anyone has heard, but she [Elizabeth] has ADHD, and it’s really bad. I don’t want to ever upset her again because I feel really terrible. She has ADHD.” 

Shanae then laughed at her comments, angering plenty of people watching the show. Despite all of this, Shanae continued to point fingers and place herself in the role of the victim. Finally, Clayton sent Shanae packing during a two-on-one date with Genevieve Parisi.

Clayton Echard hinted at regretting his decision to keep Shanae Ankney in the running

Some eagle-eyed fans over at The Bachelor fan account, @bachelornation.scoop, noticed a comment from a fan on one of Clayton’s recent posts. It read, “Wear blue in your next photo if you were forced to keep Shanae against your will.”

Sure enough, in the following photo, the Missouri native donned navy blue shorts and a gray sweatshirt. Not only that, the same fan commented, “YOUR SHORTS ARE BLUE,” to which Clayton replied, “That is a correct observation.”

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Fans of ‘The Bachelor’ hope Clayton Echard addresses Shanae Ankney’s behavior during the ‘Women Tell All’

This season of The Bachelor with Clayton Echard is only to the midway point. This means there are several more episodes to come. However, the ladies vocalized their relief when they discovered Shanae wouldn’t return after the two-on-one date. 

The Women Tell All episode allows contestants and The Bachelor lead to discuss situations that fans weren’t privy to during the season. This means Shanae will likely have to answer for her antics and the bullying of other women. Whether or not Clayton plans to speak up about his decision to keep Shanae around for song remains to be seen. Although, Shanae struck quite a nerve in the neurodivergent community. It seems fans would be irritated with the show if the women or Clayton discussed none of this. 

In January, fans called Shanae out on her “lack of awareness.” The reality star quickly deactivated her entire Instagram account. However, her absence from social media didn’t last long. She recently posted a photo with a caption explaining her behavior. For now, viewers will have to wait to see how it all unfolds at the end of the season.

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