Missouri native named as next ‘Bachelor’ is looking for his second chance at love

A “Missouri thoroughbred” will steer the Bachelor franchise as the next lead of the series, ABC announced Nov. 30.

Clayton Echard, a 28-year-old former Mizzou football player, is back looking for love after being eliminated from Michelle Young’s “Bachelorette” season.

“I’m just a Midwest guy from Missouri that just wants to find love,” he says in a trailer for his season.

Echard grew up in Eureka, Missouri, and returned to his hometown in September to film before he was even formally announced as the Bachelor, KTVI reported. “Go find love Clayton!” a banner in downtown Eureka said.

Echard graduated from the University of Missouri and played for the Tigers as a walk-on before joining the Seattle Seahawks briefly as a tight end.

He now works as a medical sales representative and lives in Columbia, Missouri, according to his ABC bio.

“Clayton was first introduced to audiences on the current season of ‘The Bachelorette,’ where he showed off his rugged good looks and Viking-level athleticism while managing to charm even the harshest of critics—a group of fifth-grade students,” ABC said in a news release.

Echard’s casting in the franchise was unique, because he was picked as the lead before viewers ever saw him on their television screen — he was eliminated from Young’s season in week six’s Nov. 23 episode and announced the following week. His season has already concluded filming.

After being eliminated because Young couldn’t see him as “her person,” Echard spoke to confessional cameras through tears.

“I just want to find love so badly and have a family. And start that chapter in my life,” he said. “I want it more than anything else. I’ll do whatever it takes to get that. Whatever it takes.”

Young spoke fondly of Echard to People.

“He is a person who is constantly wanting to grow, constantly wanting to learn, and I felt like he really brought me along with that journey of learning about yourself and talking about that process,” she told the outlet. “It was the first time a male has really just kept me up to date with that journey, and that gave me a new perspective on some things.”

“Bring on the puppy love,” ABC declared in the announcement of Echard’s season.

You can catch the Missouri native and puppy lover on the 26th season of ”The Bachelor” premiering on Jan. 3.

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