America’s Most Hated Bachelor | EP 1

Love Trapped

This episode of Love Trapped explores the controversial paternity scandal involving Clayton Eckerd, a former Bachelor contestant, and Laura

Key takeaways

• The case highlights how truth can be obscured by conflicting narratives and shifting facts in high-profile personal disputes.

Main topics

• Paternity scandal involving a former Bachelor contestant
• Legal investigation and early morning police raid

Notable quotes

"I want you to feel how tight I am and stuff like that. Why would she have said that if they had already had sex?"

Conclusion

The episode sets the stage for an in-depth exploration of truth, credibility, and personal narrative in a

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) This is an iHeart Podcast. Guaranteed human. I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files. Every week, I'm with survivors who lived through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If Speaker 4 (0:36) your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week, we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Yeah, I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 1 (1:06) Did you hear the new episode of the Hey Jonas podcast? We are Speaker 2 (1:10) at D23, so we'll see who stops by. The Speaker 1 (1:12) cast of Frozen stopped by. Kristen Bell, Josh Gad, and Idina Menzel. I Speaker 2 (1:16) auditioned for Frozen. What? For Kristoff. They said, okay, what are you going to be singing today? I said, I don't know. That must Speaker 1 (1:21) have been why you didn't get it. Well, you probably won. Plus, John Stamos, Hayden Christensen from Star Wars, and more. And Speaker 2 (1:27) I guess I can share that, uh... Speaker 1 (1:29) Listen to the latest episode of Hey Jonas on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 8 (1:40) Hey, this is Hayes Davenport. And Sean Clements. We host the podcast Hollywood Handbook. Each week, Speaker 2 (1:45) we talk to someone in show business and try to help them with their careers and see what they have to offer us. Everyone has a good time and no one gets mad at their publicist for letting them do our show. Speaker 8 (1:53) We've had a lot of great guests like Sarah Sherman, Adam Scott, Danny McBride, Ben Stiller, and a lot of other big shots that wouldn't be where they are without us. Listen to Hollywood Handbook on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Speaker 5 (2:09) It's just before 7 a.m. on January 29th, 2025, in Scottsdale, Arizona. Speaker 2 (2:15) Please search warrant. Speaker 5 (2:18) Arizona has a reputation for relentless heat. But after years of living there, I know better. Winters in the desert can be chilly. And this morning was one of those days. It was 45 degrees and still dark outside. Speaker 2 (2:32) We have a search warrant, okay? We're serving it on behalf of the Maricopa County Attorney's Office. You need to open up the door. Speaker 5 (2:41) The Scottsdale police are at the home of 34-year-old Laura Owens. She and her parents live in one of the most desirable areas of Scottsdale. Think upscale ranch-style homes on spacious lots. It's a rare urban neighborhood that still allows horses. But this morning, the calm and quiet was interrupted. Speaker 7 (3:02) We made entry. We're contacting the carriage right now. You're good to move to the casino. Speaker 5 (3:09) Laura lives in a casita on her parents' property, which is kind of like a little studio apartment that's separate from the main house. Through a sliding glass door, officers can see Laura, who is already awake and feeding her dogs. Speaker 2 (3:24) Laura, Scottsdale Police. Speaker 2 (3:28) You see my badge? We're with the Scottsdale Police Department. Okay. Can you come out and talk with us, please? No. The county attorneys have a search warrant for your property, so we need you to come out. Okay. I'm sorry, it's not Speaker 5 (3:39) even 7 in the morning. That's fine. Laura looks incredibly thin, dressed in an oversized Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and leggings. Her dark hair is pulled back in a ponytail. She's not exactly shocked to see the police, but she is annoyed by their timing. I was told Speaker 2 (3:57) that if the police were going to come, they would come during business Speaker 5 (3:59) hours. Can I call my attorney, please? Laura reaches for her cell phone and calls her attorney, David Gingras. Speaker 4 (4:07) David, do you know what's going on right now? Speaker 5 (4:10) The Scottsdale police are trying to handle this as calmly as possible. But Laura's getting more agitated by the minute. Speaker 2 (4:17) Our target is very animated at this point, refusing to come out. She's speaking to us through a sliding glass door. We're giving her an opportunity to talk to her attorney so they don't have to escalate things. But that's just where we're at right now. She's on speaker with her attorney and the attorney is advising her to come out. There's how many people are here? A lot. Open the door. Do they have authority to search before 7 o'clock in the morning? The police are there to let them do whatever they want. Speaker 5 (4:49) With her lawyers okay, she slowly opens her screen door and the Scottsdale police lead her into the main house where her parents are waiting. Laura's having a meltdown. Speaker 1 (5:00) This is not... Speaker 2 (5:09) So, Laura is a subject of an investigation by the courts. It's regarding that. The Bachelor, Speaker 5 (5:26) as in the hit reality TV show. Imagine one of its stars, a former lead, at the center of a major paternity scandal. The man whose story prompted this early morning police raid is none other than Clayton Eckerd. He's one of the most notorious and unpopular bachelors of all time. His season fell to pieces, leaving him single and rejected by the woman he'd fallen in love with. After the show, he moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, hoping for a fresh start. On the show, Clayton didn't meet his person, but after moving to Arizona, he would meet the person. that would change the course of his life forever. I'm Stephanie Young, and this is Love Trapped. Nearly two years before the police raid, Laura Owens hooked up with Clayton Eckerd and allegedly became pregnant. That is only the beginning of the story, a story that is still very much going on. It's about how difficult it can be to verify the truth, especially when facts are constantly shifting. Speaker 5 (7:03) Anytime someone doesn't want to give you Speaker 2 (7:05) the full information, they lose all credibility. I don't know what she did, but we certainly didn't rule out the spit maneuver. Speaker 8 (7:11) The things that she said to Clayton, the famous lines about, I want you to feel how tight I am and stuff like that. Why would she have said that if they had already had sex? She Speaker 2 (7:19) says, we were sexually intimate. Okay, well now he's saying you only had two blowjobs. Blowjobs don't make babies. Speaker 3 (7:26) It's like a miracle. Somehow that she got pregnant. She Speaker 2 (7:30) could have shot herself in the ass with fertility drugs. They Speaker 3 (7:33) hooked up, but they didn't Speaker 2 (7:34) have Speaker 5 (7:35) sex. Turkey Speaker 2 (7:36) basters. It's Speaker 5 (7:37) just Speaker 2 (7:37) a chaos. Speaker 5 (7:39) In the end, the man at the center of this drama would begin to question everything, setting him on an all-consuming path to prove the truth. Speaker 7 (7:56) Hello, this is Clayton speaking. Speaker 5 (7:57) Hey, Clayton, it's Stephanie from Glass Podcasts. How are you today? Speaker 7 (8:01) Hey, Stephanie. I'm doing good. It's honestly just another slow Friday today. Speaker 5 (8:06) When I first heard about this case, it sounded simple. But as I began looking into it myself, the twists and turns became increasingly strange. So I gave Clayton a call. We have emailed back and forth a few times about this whole Laura Owens saga. And I want to tell your story. I want to tell it in a podcast and get all the details out there. I know you've shared some, but I don't think that you've shared all of them yet. Speaker 7 (8:34) I mean, there's so much. I do want it out there. Just full transparency. I just, I hope it's told correctly. Speaker 5 (8:44) This would be my first of many phone calls with Clayton. I live in Chicago now, but I used to call Arizona home. It's one of my favorite places. It's where I attended college. It's where I got married and began my career in radio and podcasting. I was actually in Arizona shopping for a wedding dress when I first heard about this on the news. And I'll be heading back there soon to start reporting on this case myself. So how do you feel about letting me share your story? Speaker 7 (9:16) I mean, Stephanie, I hope that over time that this becomes a budding friendship and like I can trust you and it can be told in the way that it needs to be told and how I would like for it to be told. But I want to also just, again, be completely honest because that's how I live my life. I've been screwed over so many times by producers that have told me this is how I'm going to be seen. And then it's complete opposite. So like, is there a little bit of hesitancy? Yeah, I'm going to definitely want to be in the know. As much as possible. Speaker 5 (9:47) Clayton's story is an epic battle of he said, she said. It's a story about who you believe and why. Over the past two years, it's ignited the internet, becoming a kind of viral cautionary tale. Along the way, dozens of citizen sleuths and armchair investigators joined the conversation, scrutinizing every little detail. But here's the thing. When the news broke that Clayton was part of this paternity scandal, no one believed him at first because he was a reality TV star and an unpopular one at that. All of a sudden, his word was at the center of a case that would put him back in the spotlight in a way he never expected. Speaker 5 (10:32) Just so you know, I have family that lives in Phoenix. So next time I'm in Arizona, I'd love to try to get together and maybe have a conversation to see how we can tell this story together in a way that makes sense. Speaker 7 (10:44) Honestly, I think that'd be great. I mean, I'm a huge believer in just face-to-face interaction and I would really like that. That way, obviously we can get to know one another and understand what seriously we're both getting into because you are going to be in over your head. Speaker 5 (10:59) And he was right. I had no idea how big the story really was. To really understand what's going on here, you first have to understand how Clayton was portrayed on TV and why he was so unpopular. You see, his season of The Bachelor ended in flames. Speaker 8 (11:22) The rose ceremony from hell. It's one of the most memorable moments in the history of the show. That basically blew up his whole season. Speaker 2 (11:30) I promise you. That when you look back at this, this is going to haunt you, the fact that you let me go. Speaker 5 (11:40) It didn't help that the three final contestants were some of the most likable in the entire franchise. Clayton came off as almost insensitive. But that's only part of what earned him the title of most hated Bachelor ever. Speaker 5 (11:56) He left the show in embarrassment. The internet turned on him. Speaker 7 (12:00) This is going down as an all-time bad season. He's going down as an all-time bad bachelor. Speaker 2 (12:05) I've been saying all season that I think this guy sucks. His words and his actions did not line up. If I see any of these people defending this guy, I mean, shame on you. Speaker 5 (12:16) And in the end, Clayton was left alone. He was at an all-time low. Speaker 7 (12:22) I was the worst bachelor ever at this point. People were hating me, everything that they were watching on TV. I thought, how am I ever going to recover from what I've done? Speaker 1 (12:42) When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and held captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are The Survivor Files. I just remember this low, taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. They're stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to The Survivor Files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If Speaker 4 (13:42) your bookshelf and your For You page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Prose Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks Pride and Prejudice and Love Island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. From bestselling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters, then that is a Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. Speaker 6 (14:42) On the new podcast, Solita, we share the messy reality of traveling alone as a woman. I can wait four hours for the next bus or this random dude is offering me a ride on his motorcycle. I chose option B. I'm Julie Pinheiro and I travel by myself because it's a rare space where I can say yes without asking anyone else first. I'm on a mission to reclaim the word solita, trading the pity for possibility. Every