Courtesy of Clayton Echard/Instagram
Clayton Echard appears to have received new information amid his ongoing alleged paternity scandal.
“Since posting, I’ve been notified (and have confirmed) that there are other individuals out there with nearly identical accusations being made against them by the exact same person,” the former Bachelor, 30, wrote on his Instagram Story on Thursday, September 21. “Some of the court cases are still publicly accessible and active.”
Last month, Echard was named in a lawsuit by an anonymous woman who claimed he had gotten her pregnant during a one-night stand on May 20. She requested that he take a paternity test ahead of her twins’ February 2024 birth.
The woman subsequently alleged that Echard wasn’t cooperating and “refused” her paternity test request, which led him to share the receipts. In a separate Instagram Story post on Thursday, Echard confirmed that he had scheduled the paternity test, despite his ex’s claims.
“This is the timeline. The truth will always set you free,” he wrote, captioning a screenshot of an email receipt from a DNA testing company. The email seemingly confirmed that Echard had paid $725 for the paternity test.
A second email — with the subject line “Confirmation of Test” — clarified that Echard would take his “portion of the test on the 27th of September.” He confirmed that his ex would “take her portion the 2nd of October.”
The message concluded: “Results will then take about a week to get back. I believe we’re all on the same page now.”
Echard previously denied the woman’s “baseless” claims in a statement to The Sun on Monday, September 18, saying that they “did not have sexual intercourse.”
However, in the court documents, the woman claimed that Echard knew of the pregnancy since June, but did not believe her.
“I wanted you to come over to confirm what I was doubting. And you did confirm that. So, I don’t see you as a liar anymore,” Echard’s alleged text to the woman read.
Both Echard and the unnamed woman are set to appear in court on September 28 for an early resolution conference.
Echard’s ongoing alleged paternity scandal comes after his rise to fame from The Bachelor franchise. While he made his Bachelor Nation debut on Michelle Young’s season of The Bachelorette in 2021, Echard became the Bachelor the following year.
While he offered his final rose to Susie Evans at the end of his season, he ultimately turned him down. However, once filming came to an end, they gave their relationship another shot. In September 2022, the pair confirmed that they had split.
“We’ve been very careful with what we’ve shared because so much of what we went through is private and it doesn’t need to be shared,” Echard told Us Weekly exclusively in February of the split. “We both know that we could have done things differently, but ultimately, the outcome was the outcome.”