'Won't Go Away': Former Bachelor Clayton Echard Calls Ex-Fling a 'Pest' and 'Cockroach' After Paternity Suit Victory
Former Bachelor Clayton spoke out about his victory in a paternity lawsuit brought by a former hookup who claimed the reality star impregnated her.
Former Bachelor Clayton Echard is finally speaking out about his victory in a paternity lawsuit brought by a former hookup who he called a "pest" and a "cockroach" after she claimed the reality star impregnated her, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Laura Owens, the daughter of well-known San Francisco radio host Ronn Owens, sued Clayton last August in Maricopa County, Arizona, seeking child support for their purported unborn twins. The TV personality from Phoenix, however, denied ever having sexual intercourse with Laura, and accused her of harassment and fabricating medical documents.
Ultimately, last week, the judge agreed with Clayton's counterclaims and called for the county prosecutor to charge Laura with two felonies. On the "Not Ashamed Podcast" Tuesday, the 2022 lead of The Bachelor told host Ashley Nordman that he had become consumed by stress over the case.
Despite the ruling in his favor, he said the ordeal put him "on edge," making it difficult to focus on his real estate business endeavors.
"I'm trying to show up for myself, I'm trying to show up for my team right now, but I'm already at this stress level, where I'm like ... If I could just erase this, I could grow and build faster than what I am," Clayton explained.
Clayton called his ex-fling a "pest" and a "cockroach" who "just won't go away."
"But I got this freakin' pest that just won't go away, and I don't know how she continues to be able to just fly by the seat of her pants and not be held accountable," he continued.
"I feel that she's holding me back, and it's like, how much longer are you going to try to have this hold on me?" the frustrated TV personality went on, saying "it's like she's a cockroach that won't go away. She is, she's this pest."
The next day, Laura's dad posted a scathing rebuke to social media, declaring that Clayton "[c]alling my daughter a 'pest' and a 'cockroach'" was "not only offensive but antisemitic."
"These terms were used by Nazis to dehumanize Jews, including my family during the Holocaust," Ronn said. He went on to ask Clayton a series of questions: "If you didn't believe Laura was pregnant, why did you invite her to your apartment until false pretenses for her to take a pregnancy test you purchased, which came back positive?"
"Why did you say during your deposition that you would have told her anything to get her to have an abortion?"
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The former Bachelor lead spoke out about the paternity case on the Not Ashamed Podcast with Ashley Nordman on Tuesday.
Four months after filing her petition for child support, Laura filed a motion to dismiss the paternity matter in December of 2023, claiming she was no longer pregnant. She maintains that she had a miscarriage, but the judge said she failed to prove she had ever actually been pregnant.
Judge Julie Mata called the matter "a case of serial fabrications," writing in her decision that Laura failed to prove she was ever pregnant, lied during testimony, and falsified evidence.
A sonogram Laura claimed was her own, for example, had been taken from a seven-year-old YouTube video, Mata said.
Laura's petition, according to the judge, was "fraudulent and made to incite communication, a relationship, or both, with [Clayton]."
During his podcast appearance, "Not Ashamed Podcast" apperance, Clayton asked "for the other victims to come forward and reach out to me," adding, "strength is in numbers." Clayton's attorneys told The Arizona Republic that Laura had a history of falsely claiming to be pregnant.
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Clayton was the lead on The Bachelor in 2022.
"I certainly never wanted this to occur, but I'm glad I was able to get justice for not only me but for the previous victims," Clayton told the newspaper on Friday, "So just to stop this from ever happening again, I think that's the best thing about it all."
Laura reportedly planned to appeal the ruling, claiming her right to due process was denied.
"We are confident this decision will be overturned on appeal," she said in an email.