The Bachelor star Susie Evans, a frontrunner in Clayton Echard’s season, revealed that she was almost cast in a different season of the show a few years ago. Susie is a 28-year-old wedding videographer from Virginia Beach, Virginia. She has led a very interesting life. She has competed in beauty pageants and won Miss Virginia 2020. She moved to Japan by herself when she was 22 years old to experience a new culture on her own. She worked at Tokyo Disneyland and lived in Japan until she was 25. While she was there, she began doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. She is a Jiu-Jitsu champion.
Clayton was obviously intrigued by Susie, as he chose her for the first one-on-one date. They had an adventurous day, taking a helicopter ride to a yacht where they were able to relax and get to know each other better. They shared a kiss and even jumped from the yacht together while holding hands. Susie and Clayton had a romantic dinner, during which they opened up to each other about their lives. They shared details about their families, and Susie told him about how her dad got very sick last year, and she cried as she spoke about his recovery. She said that she wanted to find someone who would stay by her side the way that her mom stayed at her father’s bedside while he recovered. Clayton said that he liked the fact that, like him, she wants a partner and a family. He felt a strong connection with her. After dinner, they were treated to a private concert from Amanda Jordan, who sang a song called “I Choose You.” They danced and shared more kisses, and Clayton gave Susie the rose. Susie privately said that, if Clayton felt the same way about her, she could see herself falling in love with him.
On the Bachelor Happy Hour podcast with co-hosts Becca Kufrin and Serena Pitt, Susie revealed that she was almost cast in Colton Underwood’s season four years ago. She said that she had just moved home from living in Japan and she was “very single. I hadn’t dated seriously in two years, the whole time I was out there. And my best friends watched the show pretty religiously, and they convinced me to let them nominate me. And they sent a package in the mail.” She said that the package didn’t get there in time for casting, but if she had been cast, the bachelor would have been Colton. Becca joked about the similarities between Colton and Clayton, saying, “Look, you got your blondie, NFL player.” Serena laughed that both of their names begin with a “C.” Susie giggled, saying, “It worked out for the best.”
The next year, the show called Susie and said that they were casting and that they thought she would be a great fit. However, she was in a relationship at the time, so it didn’t work out again. This past year, Susie and her friend Veronica decided to nominate each other. She said, “It just happened to be a good time for me. So I feel like it’s kind of been in this realm of my world where I started watching after I got the call. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh! This is crazy! They actually called me!’ So then I kind of had my interest piqued for a while now. But now I’m just a fan of the show, so it’s crazy to be on the show.”
It is interesting to think about how different Clayton’s journey might have been if Susie had been cast in Colton’s season instead of his. Even though they are similar, Susie definitely ended up in a better situation since Colton came out as gay last year and is now in a relationship with a man. Also, she experienced so many more things in her life in the time between Colton’s and Clayton’s seasons, and was able to grow as a person. Susie is now ready to fall in love, and perhaps Clayton will be the man who wins her heart.
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
