Clayton Echard Asks 'Bachelor' Fans To Give Zach Shallcross 'Grace'

Fantasy Suite week on “The Bachelor” has certainly caused conversation amongst Bachelor Nation.

Zach Shallcrosss decided to make a “no sex” rule going into Fantasy Suite in an attempt to focus more on the emotional side of the relationships rather than the physical, especially with a potential engagement one week away.

However, things did not go as planned as Shallcross broke his own rule, after having admitted to sleeping with Gabi Elnicki. Not only did he break his own rule, he then went on to “kiss and tell” as he opened up to host Jesse Palmer and another contestant, Kaity Biggar.

Former “Bachelor” lead Clayton Echard is asking fans to give Zach Shallcross "some grace".

Former "Bachelor" lead Clayton Echard took to Instagram after the controversial episode aired, sticking up for Shallcross and asking fans to give him some forgiveness.

"Did Zach do things perfectly? No. None of us ever do it right, hardly any. There's time after time again when many of us have failed in that process. But just give him some grace. That's all I ask," he said on his Instagram Stories.

Zach Shallcross informed the women of his “no sex” rule after they read the Fantasy Suite date card out loud, meaning they knew of the rule before heading into overnights.

"He's trying his best. Did he do things the right way? No," Echard continued to say on social media. "I mean, not at all points. It's easy to look at it and go, 'Why did you do that?' But again, we don't know what's always happening. And it's just too hard to say, 'This is what you should do.' It's easy when you say it sitting and watching it from a TV. It's another thing when emotions are involved."

"That is just how it is, and we all can relate to that," he explained. "It's so easy to be rational when there's no emotional tie. The second you get an emotional tie, things are not cut and dry, and that's what we see."

Shallcross kept his rule in play during his first overnight date with Ariel Frenkel, but ended up breaking it during his second overnight with Gabi Elnicki. Not only did Shallcross go and tell host Jesse Palmer about having sex with Elnicki, but he also told one of the other women he is dating, Kaity Biggar.

Regarding if Shallcross approached that situation correctly, Echard said there is "danger" in waiting to have that conversation until after the engagement.

"You get engaged and then all of a sudden you say, 'Hey, I've got to tell you something off-camera.' They could either say, 'Hey thank you so much for letting me know this. I'm appreciative that you didn't say this on national television,' or they could say the reverse, which is, 'Why didn't you tell me this sooner? Had you told me this, I would have made different decisions and I wouldn't ultimately be here," he explained on social media.

"[The woman might say], 'For something as big as an engagement, I wish you would've told me this because it would've affected my decision-making ability'," he continued.

“The Bachelor” continues Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The episodes are available to stream the following day on Hulu.