Colton Just Admitted That He Lied To 'Bachelor' Producers & Here's Why

The Bachelor may be known for its drama, but the main premise of the show has always been about falling in love — or at least it's supposed to be, anyway. However, the process that goes into making that happen may be much trickier than many fans realized. In fact, during a recent interview with Emanuele Berry on the This American Life podcast, Colton Underwood admitted he lied to Bachelor producers about who he liked most during his season, claiming that he felt he was being purposefully kept away from his top picks.

"They always asked [me] to rank the girls," Colton explained about his time as the Bachelor. "And very early on, Hannah was up there. And she got left off of a date." (Colton never specified during the interview which Hannah he is referring to: Hannah G. or Hannah B. Bustle reached out for clarification on the matter, but had yet to receive a response at the time of publication.) Regardless, Colton felt hurt that someone he'd clearly expressed interest in was getting excluded from dates. "I sort of recall remember feeling a little burnt when they did that," Colton admitted. "I was like, 'So let me get this straight. Hannah's number one on my list right now, and she's not getting a date this week?'"

This prompted him to change tactics and become a little less truthful about where his heart (and roses) were headed, adding: "So in a weird way, I tried to defend myself and defend the girls by not being truthful to them who my top was."

Even if his feelings started to change or he began to develop a stronger connection with different contestants from the start of the season, Colton made a point of always keeping his top picks the same for the producers so that they wouldn't be able to mess with the relationships he truly cared about. "Hannah was always at the top of the list when I always made the list for them to see, and I never changed it," he confessed during the same interview. "So that's just me wanting to set myself up for success."

And ultimately, fence-jumping aside, that's precisely what ended up happening. Colton did find himself in a successful relationship with Cassie by the end of the season. The two of them are still together to this day and while they have yet to get engaged, Colton finds their slower pace a lot more genuine. "I think with Cass, the best way to describe our relationship is it was such a slow burn," Colton said of their relationship. "And it was, in a weird way, in the dynamic of The Bachelor franchise where it's supposed to be quick, and fast, and intense."

It just goes to show that you never quite know how these romances will play out, but luckily it appears as though it all worked out in Colton's favor — even if the process of how it came about was less than ideal.