Colton Underwood has been on a few seasons of The Bachelorette, Bachelor In Paradise, and The Bachelor in hopes of finding love.
He has been linked to Becca, Tia, and Cassie throughout his time with ABC, but he recently started attacking the franchise for editing and making things look like they were different than what they were.
It didn’t help when Colton and Cassie broke up after their Bachelor finale and ABC started digging for answers to see if there was something juicy going on.
Now, he’s opening up about his time behind the cameras, revealing that his experience wasn’t all positive.
Colton Underwood recalls uncomfortable incidents
In fact, there were some bad experiences that changed Colton as a person and he admits that he now knows that he’s not cut out to be in the spotlight.
All of this came to light in a new interview where Colton opened up about things that he has never talked about before.
Colton appeared on Reality Steve’s podcast this week and he dished all the details about why he’s not in a good place with The Bachelor franchise. He reveals editing is a huge part of the drama that happens on the show. Colton also explains that fame got to him and things got very dark.
In one incident, a fan grabbed him when he was doing a meet and greet. He was shocked that people violated his personal space and just grabbed his body as if he was okay with it.
“I just remember feeling so powerless and like such a piece of meat. That for me was a big turning point in my mental health, of like, ‘Wow, I have no clue what I’m in for right now.’ And it got pretty bad. It got dark,” he tells Steve.
He goes on to explain that he went to Las Vegas with Jason Tartick and Blake Horstmann, where they were backstage at a concert. He kept peaking out to look at the audience and the crowd went wild. He didn’t realize that the fans were screaming at him. After he was made aware that fans were freaking out over him, and that’s when the stardom hit him.
And he didn’t take it well.
“I had so much anxiety and so much depression that I was like, throughout the majority of my season [airing], I was pretty heavily medicated. I’m not gonna lie. I was taking medication for anxiety and for depression during the whole entire season,” he shared, clarifying that he was on medication as his season of The Bachelor was airing.
Colton Underwood reveals he’s completely done with The Bachelor franchise
After his time in the franchise, Colton reveals that he’s done with the show. He won’t return to find love in an upcoming season of The Bachelorette or Bachelor In Paradise.
In fact, Colton says he’s going to continue making an effort to distance himself from The Bachelor franchise.
“There’s just been too many things that I’ve found out about, and that has happened, for me to feel comfortable working with them again on a professional level, not even personal,” he explained.
Despite taking aim at The Bachelor franchise a couple of times, Colton does credit the show with realizing that he’s not gay.
Colton’s criticism of the show was visible just last season, as he wasn’t allowed to share anything he knew about the show when Peter Weber’s season was airing. He admitted that ABC didn’t want him to speak out about Peter Weber’s experience, even though he knew what would often happen backstage.
The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons — Ever airs Mondays at 8/7c on ABC.