The Bachelorette alum Jason Tartick says his former close friend Colton Underwood is "very, very calculated" and revealed ex The Bachelor star doesn't talk to Kaitlyn Bristowe or himself anymore.
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According to Jason's friend David, who appeared on the April 4 episode of the former banker's new "Trading Secrets" podcast, Jason wrote in one of the last chapters of his new book, The Restart Roadmap: Rewire and Reset Your Career, that Colton "is a polarizing individual and master negotiator and marketer."
Jason apparently wrote in his book how he and fellow The Bachelorette 14 alum Blake Horstmann had similar interviews to become The Bachelor star for 2019 in that they're both nice guys who were in it for the right reasons, but Colton allegedly told producers, "Yeah, Jason and Blake are good guys. But do you want good guys or do you want a guy who will give you good TV ratings?"
But Jason admitted on his podcast there's no way he could've delivered better TV ratings than Colton on The Bachelor's 23rd edition.
"Because I'm just not in the business of being manipulated to create drama... and my risk tolerance for sh-t like that is just too low," Jason said on "Trading Secrets."
"There's many reasons they didn't pick me, but one of the big reasons is because I'm boring, I'm vanilla. They know I wouldn't have been manipulated; I wouldn't have done crazy sh-t. He was exactly right, and he nailed it."
Jason confirmed he and Colton, who wrote The First Time memoir that was released in early 2020 and then starred on a Netflix docu-reality series titled Coming Out Colton in late 2021, are no longer in communication.
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"No, I don't talk to him. Ironically enough, I just found out he recently unfollowed [my fiancee] Kaitlyn and I. I'm not sure why. We returned the favor... I'm not sure why he unfollowed us, but he did," Jason revealed.
The Buffalo native went on to say, "The interesting thing with Colton is timeline-wise, he's a very, very calculated man."
"But he had asked me several times to interview to be on one of the Netflix shows for him," Jason continued.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOWJason clarified how Colton allegedly wanted him to appear on a Netflix reality series the former NFL player had been filming with Cassie Randolph before Coming Out Colton even went into production. (Coming Out Colton featured Colton announcing he's gay in April 2021 on Good Morning America after his 2020 split from Cassie).
"He was gonna have a show with Cassie and then he was gonna have a show by himself with his friends. He was working every angle to get a Netflix show," Jason claimed.
"And I commend him, you know, he knows what he wants and he goes for it. It's just interesting. I was like, 'Dude, whatever you need, however I can help. If you need Kaitlyn, I'll get Kaitlyn to interview. Whatever we can do to help you.'"
Jason recalled, "I do remember him making a comment, like, I think for him and Cassie it didn't work out and they needed him AND Cassie. It couldn't just be his show. And so I think he put a lot of equity in that."
Jason said he had been willing to help Colton out in whatever way he needed following Colton and Cassie's May 2020 breakup.
"And I interviewed! There's footage. I interviewed for two or three things for Colton with Netflix, and then he came to Nashville in [Summer 2020], hung out with Kaitlyn and I, was a little distant -- I think that's when his whole thing was happening," Jason said, referring to when Colton allegedly spiraled out of control and began stalking Cassie.
"But he was still him. He was a little aloof with where he said he would be and when and why. And then all this sh-t happened. I remember he FaceTimed Cassie a couple of times, which was interesting, and like, he would [hold] it up with Kaitlyn and I, almost showing that he was with us."
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"I didn't know the whole story of everything happening, and he said something like, 'I'm going to be there soon!' And then not another word... I just didn't hear anything," Jason said, suggesting Colton had ghosted him.
When asked if he has any issue with Colton now, Jason admitted, "There are just so many open questions. I didn't know what was going on and I didn't hear from him, and we were so close."
Jason said the news of what Colton "had done to Cassie" then came out and shocked the world towards the end of that summer.
What started out as an amicable split turned nasty in June 2020 when Colton got angry about Cassie appearing on a Bachelor special after they had agreed to handle their breakup privately. Cassie thought she respected Colton's wishes and proceeded to accuse her ex of trying to "monetize" their breakup by writing about it in his The First Time memoir.
Colton allegedly put a tracking device on Cassie's car, sent her "unsettling" text messages, and would stand outside her apartment or her parents' house very late at night, which resulted in Cassie filing a restraining order against Colton in September 2020. The order was ultimately dropped once a private agreement between the exes was reached in November 2020.
"I hadn't talked to him and then of course he came out [as gay] and has a show and has been living his happy life, I guess," Jason said.
Colton is currently engaged to political strategist Jordan C. Brown, and Colton has said in multiple interviews the pair would like to have a baby together in the near future.
"I haven't seen the show, but I hear he takes a lot of ownership for what happened with Cassie, and I commend him for that," Jason said.
"We all f-ck up... I feel so sad and sorry for what [Cassie] went through, but I'm also happy that Colton... has moved on and found happiness."
Jason added that Colton must have recently unfollowed Kaitlyn and himself on Instagram.
"Maybe it was when we were out with Cassie and Cassie was on Kaitlyn's podcast, I don't know," Jason noted.
In light of it all, Jason concluded that Colton was a better The Bachelor star because he's "more of a reality TV star in all areas" than Jason was or would ever be.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
