Colton Underwood Makes A Bold Claim About The Bachelor
Colton Underwood is one of the most popular reality stars to come out of "The Bachelor." The 30-year-old starred on the reality dating competition show in 2019, where he gave his final rose to Cassie Randolph, per Us Weekly. But just as fans thought they were solid in their relationship, the couple split in May 2020 after a year of dating. The exes then publicly accused each other of using the split for self-promotion. However, things got even uglier four months later when Cassie filed a restraining order against Colton. She dropped the case in November, according to People, and Colton subsequently apologized.
Since then, Colton has continued to live his life unabashedly, coming out as gay in April 2021. On February 28, Colton announced he is engaged to political strategist Jordan C. Brown after six months of dating, per People. While Colton has seemingly moved on from his days on "The Bachelor," he couldn't help but give some advice on how the show could improve in a recent interview with Andy Cohen. Here's what he had to say.
Colton Underwood claims The Bachelor should support its contestants more
Three years after starring on "The Bachelor," Colton Underwood has some advice on how the franchise could improve. Speaking on the March 7 episode of "Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen," the reality star said the ABC show should be "listening to its former leads and listening to its contestants" for input, and also "providing help for them when they need it after the show." Colton explained that the show has not done a good job with providing support for contestants who become famous, saying, "They really come in and change your life and then sort of throw you to the wolves."
This isn't the first time that one of the stars from "The Bachelor" has criticized the show. Former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay called the franchise "toxic" in an op-ed for New York Magazine in June 2021, after former host Chris Harrison and contestant Rachael Kirkconnell were accused of racism. "The franchise has spent 19 years cultivating a toxic audience," Rachel wrote. "They have constantly given it a product it wants: a midwestern/southern white, blonde, light-eyed Christian. Not all viewers are like that ... there is a Bachelor Nation, and there is a Bachelor Klan." Rachel went on to say that the "Klan" subset is "afraid of change" and criticism.
ABC hasn't yet responded to Rachel nor Colton's comments, but given the fact that "The Bachelor" hasn't yet been renewed for a 27th season, perhaps an overhaul could be coming sooner than we think.