ABC/Craig Sjodin Zac Clark participates in a toast on 'The Bachelorette.'
What was in Zac Clark’s glass during all of those toasts on The Bachelorette? With rumors swirling about his sobriety while appearing on the dating franchise, the recovering addict and addiction specialist is setting the record straight.
“I am so happy we are talking about this, it is wild how much attention this gets,” said his new fiancé, Tayshia Adams, when the subject was broached by a co-host on her podcast, Click Bait!
“Apple cider for the win!… No, there was no drinking on the show,” said the co-founder of Release Recovery. “Sober to me means no drugs, no alcohol, no nothing since August of 2011.”
Clark opened up to Adams about his sobriety during their first one-on-one date of the season, revealing it played a part at the end of his first marriage and led to his arrest. Now sober, he runs a sober living facility in New York City.
“Everyone who worked on the show, every time there was a toast, there was someone with an apple cider, sparkling substance…” said Clark, before the former Bachelorette chimed in, “or even ginger ale at times.”
Adams continued in defense of Clark, saying, “Who is gonna claim that they’re sober, but when it comes to a toast, like, ‘Oh, just one glass of champagne.’”
Clark revealed it was during one of these toasts after a rose ceremony that he knew she was interested in him. When it was down to “maybe like five guys,” the tray was brought out with glasses of champagne and one glass of apple cider.
“She looked at him and she goes, ‘No, I’m drinking apple cider with him tonight,’” said Clark. He continued, “So she made the guy go back, get an apple cider, all of us were waiting.”
“So she was on team Clarky that day. So that’s when I knew,” he said.
The Newly Engaged Couple Opened up About Their Wedding Plans
While appearing on another Bachelor Nation podcast, Bachelor Happy Hour, the newly engaged couple opened up about their wedding plans.
“Let’s date for at least a year and be mature adults and, like, learn to love each other outside of this whole thing and work towards a wedding in 2022,” Clark told the podcast’s co-hosts, Becca Kufrin and Rachel Lindsay. Adams agreed, adding, “We’re not in any rush.”
Instead, the couple moved in together with Adams committing to bi-coastal living for the time being. However, they did provide some insight into what the wedding might look like.
“I think she would go to an island or something and kind of keep it chill like and I’m all for the like 600-person. I just love people. I want to do a Wednesday to Sunday, come on, hang out,” said Clark.
Clark’s Ex-Wife Has Opened up About Their Marriage
Just before the finale which saw Clark and Adams leave engaged, his ex-wife, Jennifer Stanley-George, broke her silence.
“He’s a different person,” she said while speaking with Us Weekly. “Obviously it’s weird for me … we were together for so long, you know? It’s weird to watch him on TV. But yeah he’s a completely different person now, and he seems happy and healthy and that’s great.”
Stanley-George was married to Clark in their 20’s. Despite him saying she left after he was arrested for a DUI, she told the outlet she did not even remember that incident.
“He needed to do [get clean] for himself, not for me. And I think at that point if we had stayed together, he would have been doing it for me,” she said.
She revealed she has long been a fan of Adams, hoping ahead of the finale the two would be together at the end of the show.
However, she did add, “I just don’t know if he’s being completely honest and genuine on TV … But I don’t know if that’s just because I’m scarred from our past.”
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