If there's anyone who can relate to what Clayton Echard is currently going through, it's Kaitlyn Bristowe.
The Bachelor Nation alum took to her Instagram Story after the Tuesday, March 8, episode to defend the former footballer for his handling of the Fantasy Suites and Susie Evans' departure. Susie left the show after finding out that Clayton had been intimate with the other two finalists, Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia, prior to her own Fantasy Suite date with the Bachelor.
"When you're in that position, you are making a life-altering decision," Kaitlyn said. "You genuinely fall in love with more [than one] person, so why would you not be intimate with more than one person when you're trying to find the person to spend the rest of your life with?"
She added, "Why do we judge so hard on this?"
She even suggested that Susie was in the wrong, saying, "These women should have had that conversation before the fantasy suite, like, 'Hey, this is either OK with me or it's not.' And if you've set those boundaries, then that's a much different story."
Kaitlyn did, though, Kaitlyn have some criticism for Clayton, specifically about his hometown dates, saying that he did more harm than good by going through with all of them. "It's more heartbreaking to meet somebody's family and then break up with them, than it is to be intimate with them," she argued. "Take it for what it is, but it's just my opinion."
As part of her defense, Kaitlyn also shared a throwback video from season 19 of The Bachelor, in which she was questioned about whether she would be mad if Bachelor Chris Soules had slept with her and the other two finalists before handing out the final rose. "I can't be. It's part of the process," she said in the clip. "You can't take out a car without test driving it."
Looking back at her time on The Bachelor in contrast to the current season, Kaitlyn said she now understands why the notion "would hurt people's feelings" but added, "Maybe that just goes to show how little I was in love at that point."
Kaitlyn has certainly never been one to shy away from talking about sex. After all, when she faced backlash in 2015 for spending the night with Nick Viall ahead of the Fantasy Suite dates on her season of The Bachelorette, she told E! News she had no regrets.
"I'm not saying you have to have sex in your relationship, or you shouldn't, or you should. I'm just wanting people to see that you should be who you are, and that's who I am," she said at the time, adding that a former Bachelor had made a similar choice in the past and didn't face the same backlash.
"I have a good heart, and I want to empower women where I don't say you should have sex or you shouldn't have sex," she shared, "I'm just saying be true to who you are."
And clearly, Susie stayed true to herself by walking away.