Colton Underwood is serving up some piping hot tea in his new book The First Time.
There’s so much more to this Bachelor than meets the eye, and now, fans of the former footballer are getting to know what he really experienced during his time on the show, and most importantly, what happened behind-the-scenes.
But, since this is a book on his path stardom, Colton starts at the beginning of his life. He details his humble start as a footballer, his relationship with Aly Raisman and how all this impacted his decision to be a virgin. Some stories are new, while others are not, like how Simone Biles guided him through his breakup.
Then, he delves into how he became one of the famous members of Bachelor Nation, revealing how he studied past episodes and befriended one of Arie Luyendyk Jr. .‘s top three women.
All of which led him to the most pivotal moment of his life: Becoming The Bachelor.
To find out more about the shocking bombshells he shares, check out the gallery below!
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Questioning His Sexuality
Despite dating multiple women in his lifetime, the Bachelor star still questions his sexuality. He said it began in high school when he dated a girl who wanted to go further than he was willing. This forced him to dump her without explanation, causing a flurry of rumors that he’s gay. Speculation was so rampant it eventually got to his mother who told him one day, “You know, Colt, we’d still love you and support you if you were gay.” He stuck to his guns and maintained his virginity even as he became a member of the NFL. When he did tell his teammates about his body count, none of his teammates questioned his motivations, although one teammate quipped, “Underwood, man, I know someone who can help fix that.”
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His First Love
On many occasions, friends and footballers try to set up Colton with girls, but the only one to be successful is Andrew East, who matched him with Aly Raisman. He first asks her out in a video congratulating her on her gold medal, which lands him an “easy steak dinner” date. Eventually, they meet-up and as things progress she learns he’s a virgin which he thinks helped their relationship progress. “We could take our time without any kind of pressure, certainly not from me,” he explains. They fall in love, although Colton is the first one to say it. He says she one day whispered, ‘I love Ne-Yo,” while they listened to music and he thought she said, ‘I love you,” so he said it back. Awk!
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Love and Loss
Colton reveals that when they went public with their relationship during a tough time. He was “broke” and she was slowly starting to open up, both publicly and in private, about the abuse she endured under doctor Larry Nassar. “I wanted to find Nassar and rip his head off,” he admits. Other than that, the star tried to be “kind, sensitive, patient and available” as Aly navigated this difficult time. In doing so, he felt “she was finally able to tell me that she loved me.” Two weeks later, she dumped him. He asks Simone Biles if she knows why Aly broke up with him, but Simone is just as “surprised” as him. Eventually, he realized she just needed space.
Pure Chance or Strategy?
While on a stroll at the local mall, Colton stumbles across producers holding an open casting call for contestants for Arie Luyendyk Jr.‘s season of The Bachelor. Though he isn’t a woman, producers ask him to apply for Becca Kufrin‘s season, something that he considers because he’s trying to find “a way out of this rut” he’s in. He begins the process and becomes “obsessed” with getting on the show. He approaches the casting process like he would football, leading him to immerse himself in “all things Bachelorette.” In doing so, he befriends Tia Booth and they strike a close friendship, which he thinks is forbidden.
ABC
Mission Accomplished
His hard work and research pays off when he finds out he’s cast for the new season. Plus, he reveals a settlement from his lawsuit against the Raiders, which encourages him to plan a romantic getaway with Tia in L.A. He says his father “warned” him about the problems this could cause, but Colton hoped Tia would be cast as The Bachelorette and he’d get a “little head start” in the process. Unfortunately, it’s Becca, not Tia, who’s chosen, but she encourages him to go on the show. He says she told him, if things don’t work out, maybe “I’ll see your ass in Paradise.”
Tony Tran
Showtime
The day finally comes when Becca’s season airs and Colton is “excited and scared”, because he “opened up about personal issues in ways I’d never shared with my family or close friends.” Over the years, he’d fabricated stories about hookups with girls, because it “was easier to lie than to tell the truth.” But, again, to his surprise, people didn’t judge him the way he expected. Instead, friends, family, strangers and even Becca told him they were “proud” of his honesty.
ABC
Becoming The Bachelor
Colton once again began to strategize, this time with the goal of becoming the next Bachelor. He uses the Men Tell All as his opportunity to create “positive buzz” and thought of one-liners to say during the show. He takes aim specifically at Jean Blanc because he figures, “You can’t lose defending a beautiful woman’s honor.” It works and he meets with multiple producers, one of whom is Mike Fleiss. The show creator asks him if he’s willing to lose his virginity on the show and Colton says yes, but only if it were the “right person.” He writes he genuinely wanted to become the bachelor to “fall in love and get married.”
ABC
Meeting the Women
As filming kicks off, Colton begins to get a feel for all the women. On first impression, he likes everyone, but is “scared” of Demi Burnett because of her sexual nature. He’s most intrigued by Cassie Randolph but he can’t go “off-script” and tell her how strong his feelings are. And while Caelynn Miller-Keyes and Hannah Brown are among his front-runners, their feud “didn’t sit well” with him.
ABC
Finding the One
He may’ve been a virgin but Colton still had “real physiological responses” to his and the girls’ interactions. He says he would get aroused multiple times and while Hannah G. and others did that to him, he soon realized he was legitimately “falling in love” with Cassie. But his requests for time with her fell on deaf ears and the producers encouraged him to stay open since “you never know what’s going to happen.” He started to feel fed up with all the scheming, which is part of the reason why he sent Demi home when she showed up at his hotel to tell him she was falling for him. “I think she intended to come over to have some fun and then go back to hang with the girls and stir the pot.”
What Happened in the Fantasy Suite
A whole lot of drama, two breakups and one fence jump later, Colton and Cassie are finally ready to go on their Fantasy Suite date. Even though they were unmic’d, Cassie and Colton were convinced the cameras were secretly rolling and searched every nook and cranny only to discover a “couple hundred” condoms. What happens next though, Colton says is “none of your business.”
Happy Ending
Colton and Cassie are happily together and while they’re not engaged, he says he doesn’t even mind. “Now, a year later, she still gives me butterflies every time I see her. I do my best to make her feel the same way about me. Will we always be together? I hope so. We want our happily ever after. We are working at it. But I can’t see into the future. I focus instead on loving Cassie today and tomorrow, and knowing that love comes back to me tenfold. If that continues, we will have our forever.”