Colton Underwood has been vocal about severing ties with Bachelor Nation, however, there seems to still be remaining bad blood between him and other stars within the franchise.
With Colton back in the spotlight to document his coming out journey, he has ruffled some feathers and two former Bachelors have now accused him of being a liar.
First, Ben Higgins spoke out and accused Colton of lying and Nick Viall has now also come forward and echoed those same sentiments.
Nick Viall backs up Ben Higgins’ claims and calls Colton Underwood a liar
Ben Higgins was adamant that he and others from Bachelor Nation reached out to Colton after he publicly came out and one of those other stars appears to be former Bachelor Nick Viall.
Nick Viall supported Ben Higgins’s claims during his podcast The Viall Files.
Nick Viall reacted to statements that Colton previously made to Us Weekly where he claimed that he’s only in contact with one person from Bachelor Nation.
Colton expressed, “I don’t watch the show. I mean, the only person that I really talked to is Chris [Harrison] still. Chris and I stay in touch.”
Colton also made an interesting claim when he stated, “I will say this [since] Chris was about the only one from the franchise who really reached out and sort of let me know that he was there for me, [asking] if there’s anything he can do” later adding “Unfortunately, I don’t have really any relationships in the franchise anymore.”
Colton’s assertion that pretty much no one from Bachelor Nation had reached out to show their support did not sit right with Nick Viall.
During his podcast, Nick pulled up a text from his phone and gave the exact date and time that he texted Colton in April to show support and revealed that Colton acknowledged the text with a heart.
Regarding Colton’s statements, Nick shared, “That’s just not true” and proceeded to bring up receipts of his text exchange with Colton.
Nick stated, “April 14th, 7:30am – I don’t know if that’s the day of his Good Morning America appearance, but I believe it was. ‘Congrats, bud. Hope you’re in a happier place.’ With a heart. He hearted it immediately. So he saw it and then said, “Thank you, man. I’m doing so good and happy.’ I said, ‘Great to hear. Rooting for your happiness.’”
Then, Nick didn’t mince words when he declared, “He’s just a liar…It’s weird when people lie about little things they don’t need to lie [about] for attention.”
Ben Higgins says he gave Colton a gift when he came out
Ben Higgins, who defended Colton in the past, called Colton out for his lies on his own podcast and even felt too upset and offended by Colton’s statements to watch Colton’s docuseries.
Along with wondering if Colton had ill intent behind his statement, Ben revealed that not only did he reach out to show Colton support he also got him a gift.
Ben revealed, “I sent him a book about how you navigate being a Christian and coming out. So I just don’t understand this stuff sometimes. It’s like, are you just trying to make everybody else look bad and for people to feel bad? Because like, Colton, I know people who did [reach out], including myself. And so, that’s just a lie.”
Nick seems to agree with Ben that Colton Underwood is lying about the support he’s received and it remains to be seen if this will cause added tension between these three former Bachelor stars.
The Bachelor premieres Monday, January 3rd at 8/7c on ABC.