The Bachelorette contestant turned Bachelor star Clayton Echard was officially named as the lead for Season 26.
While The Bachelorette viewers learned last week why Clayton was chosen as The Bachelor, many feel that the true reason is that he’s similar to a previous Bachelor lead. Specifically, a lead who is topping the headlines right now for his upcoming Netflix series.
The Bachelor critics feel like Clayton is uncannily similar to Colton Underwood– especially after the promo material the franchise released last night.
During Michelle Young’s hometown dates episode, The Bachelor’s official Twitter account posted a promo poster of Clayton which drew in plenty of comparisons to Colton.
In the picture, Clayton is surrounded by an adorable array of puppies.
“Colton looks like Clayton, they have similar names, they both played football, and they both promoted their bachelor seasons with puppies,” one user noted while joking, “We know how this is about to end.”
For those who don’t remember, it’s true that producers also promoted Colton’s season of The Bachelor with puppies, and we have the proof below.
The poster also gave Clayton the tagline “everyone loves an underdog.”
The Bachelor promo dubs Clayton as the ‘underdog’
Another observant user noted that not only are Clayton and Colton’s first names similar but also made a connection with Colton’s last name.
They wrote, “Clayton – underdog Colton – Underwood Too many similarities…”
Another had notes about why trying to emulate Colton’s season isn’t a good idea and why some critics are annoyed that Clayton is being dubbed “the underdog.”
“A few notes: 1. They are trying so hard to make him Colton even though Colton’s season was subpar 2. The underdog thing was Rodney’s thing.. Clayton wasn’t chosen but I struggle to understand how he is an underdog,” they tweeted.
The Bachelor preview have critics calling Clayton ‘Colton 2.0’
The preview for The Bachelor Season 26 aired at the end of Michelle Young’s episode of The Bachelorette.
Many noticed that even from the preview, Clayton’s season felt like it was going to play like Colton’s. In the teaser, Clayton states that he’s just a simple guy from the midwest looking for love.
The preview also teased that Clayton has an emotional moment in which he threatens to leave the show. The Bachelor viewers will likely never forget the time Colton hopped a fence and tried to leave the show by literally running away.
Based on this trailer, some are referring to Clayton as “Colton 2.0.”
One viewer asked, “Y’all really gonna force the Colton 2.0 teaser on us RIGHT NOW??”
Another reiterated, “that preview just proved that Clayton is literally Colton 2.0.”
All in all, the majority of The Bachelor viewers feel that Clayton’s season is a do-over of Colton’s season.
“Clayton’s season of The Bachelor is 100% going to be the producers attempt at redoing Colton’s season. Prove me wrong,” one user tweeted.
The Bachelor viewers will just have to wait until next year to see if Clayton’s season ends up being similar to Colton’s (or check out some of Monsters & Critics spoilers here.)
The Bachelor returns to ABC on Monday, January 3, 2022, at 8/7c on ABC.