When it comes to her social media pages, Susie Evans doesn't have time for anyone who isn't there for the right reasons.
"Picture this: I get a notification that someone tagged me in a hateful comment. I go to their page to block and see 'follow back,'" The Bachelor star wrote on Twitter March 19. "You don't get to both follow me and harass me."
This isn't the first time Susie has addressed her critics. The day after The Bachelor finale aired and fans learned she and Clayton Echard had reconciled their romance, the Virginia-based wedding videographer posted a clip of the couple's time together following the show's end.
"Excuse me, but I think we've all lost sight of what's really important here," the video's audio stated. "We're in love."
Clayton's season finale was certainly among the most dramatic in Bachelor history. Susie and Clayton split after she learned he had been intimate with and expressed his love for fellow contestants Gabby Windey and Rachel Recchia during fantasy suites week in Iceland, with the former football player receiving backlash for how how he spoke to Susie during their conversation. But after realizing he still had feelings for her, Clayton broke up with Gabby and Rachel and asked if Susie would give their romance another chance. While she initially told him their relationship was over, the two revealed on After the Final Rose that they are back together.
"We feel super confident in where we're at, but we did need to take steps back," Susie said during a March 17 appearance E! News' Daily Pop. "I needed answers, I needed time and we both needed to heal from the things that happened in Iceland. So, it really wasn't, like, a change of heart."
During an interview on Nick Viall's podcast The Viall Files, Susie revealed she DM'ed Clayton shortly after she left the show.
"I got my phone back, called my parents, DM'ed Clayton," she said on the March 16 episode, later adding, "I didn't DM him with the intention of starting a relationship but I was like, 'Are you OK? I will respect your boundaries, whatever they are, but if you want to have one more candid conversation, here's my phone number, give me a call.' And that night, he called me and we talked for, like, five hours."
And while Clayton is now moving to Virginia to start his life with Susie, things still haven't been totally rosy.
"I'm just going to be honest: I knew it was not going to be well-received," she said on the podcast, "and I've been telling Clayton this. I'm like, 'They are not going to be happy for us. Like, they're just not. Like, the way it happened. We could be the most hated couple in Bachelor Nation. We really could.'"
Still, she said she's not going to let this stop them from following their hearts. "What I would say to them is, like take those moments where maybe I inspired you to walk away from a bad situation, take those moments and let that empower you," she said on The Viall Files about her critics. "But also know there is more to this story that you will never know."