The Bachelor alum Colton Underwood has called out the show's producers for allegedly being manipulative and dishonest and has provided a couple of examples of why he's upset with them.
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Colton and Cassie, who began dating on The Bachelor's 23rd season, were together for about 18 months before they announced their split on May 29.
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The pair seemed to have every intention of remaining friends after their breakup, but Cassie participated in a July 6 interview with The Bachelor host Chris Harrison on The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons -- Ever! that sparked a public feud.
Although Cassie declined to reveal details about the demise of her relationship with Colton in her interview, the former pro football player seemed to slam Cassie a few days later by saying "we agreed to handle things as privately as possible" and "obviously a lot changed this week."
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But Colton insists his issue was with The Bachelor franchise and not Cassie during a Thursday appearance on spoiler blogger Steve Carbone's "Reality Steve" podcast, according to Us Weekly.
"What bugged me was the fact that that show took advantage of her. I feel very defensive over people I love," Colton said.
"I know Cassie's a big girl and can fight her own battles, but I know her heart -- she doesn't want to rock the boat, and she loves people even if they abuse her or even if they take advantage of her, which is what they did?"
Colton claimed he's friends with Cassie to this day and had actually spoken to and warned her about producers' intentions hours before she filmed The Bachelor: The Greatest Seasons -- Ever! interview.
"Those people sold her on, 'Come and let's let the audience get to know you, the real Cassie,' and then you have Chris Harrison pointing questions, saying, 'I sense you don't want to make Colton mad,' or 'You're afraid you're going to upset Colton,'" Colton recalled.
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"It's like, 'No, Chris. I literally talked to her the morning of that interview. We're good. Stop worrying about me or painting me to be this controlling or angry person.' I'm not angry. If there's anybody I'm upset about or upset with it's you guys."
Cassie had apparently been under the impression she wouldn't have to talk about her May 2020 split from Colton at all, and she said she was "irritated" and "annoyed" on her Instagram Stories after the interview aired because it seemed like she just harped on her breakup.
While Colton claims he wasn't mad at Cassie for participating in the interview, Cassie apparently took it that way last month.
Cassie fired back on social media after Colton made his "passive aggressive comments" and accused him of "dragging" her and being a hypocrite because he allegedly intended to "monetize" their breakup by writing about it for a new chapter in his memoir, The First Time: Finding Myself and Looking for Love on Reality TV, without allowing her to see the content first.
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(Colton's representative told Us on July 10 that Cassie's "accusations are simply not true.")
But Colton also apparently has more personal issues with The Bachelor producers as well.
Carbone reportedly mentioned on his podcast how he had heard a producer contacted Cassie's father before Cassie's hometown date and warned him to protect his daughter because Colton wasn't planning on picking her.
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Cassie's father seemed to convince her not to rush into an engagement and move too quickly with Colton, but as fans are well aware, Cassie was Colton's frontrunner at that point, and he was already falling in love with her.
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"What people need to realize is what happens on the show can impact the relationship down the road and off camera too. I just felt like there were certain things that happened that crossed the line, as far as being a TV show vs legitimately giving someone the best show to find love," Colton explained.
"If I was lying to you or not about who I was picking, if we're talking hypothetically speaking, if someone took the father out, that's not okay. That's not cool, that's not, in my opinion, giving anyone a fair shot. It's just hard. That's where I have issues."
Despite his complaints, Colton reportedly told Carbone he's grateful for his The Bachelor experience.
"There are certain things that changed me and scarred me and I think that's an example of something that definitely will stick with me and make me wonder and make me question things now, for the rest of my life," Colton revealed.
Colton got his start on The Bachelor franchise when he competed for Becca Kufrin's heart on The Bachelorette's fourteenth season in 2018 and finished in fourth place.
Colton subsequently appeared on Season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise, when he tried to revive a romance with Tia Booth, but he ultimately found love with Cassie on The Bachelor's 23rd season last year.
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Despite being spotted recently with Pretty Little Liars actress Lucy Hale, Colton says he is
"happily single."
In terms of why Colton and Cassie split, Cassie reportedly initiated the conversation and a source told E! News in early June, "Cassie was just not as ready for the settled-down life Colton wants right now and she tried to end it a few times."
A People insider shared a similar explanation for what went wrong, saying Cassie wasn't ready to get married and the pair had essentially just become friends.
When Colton starred on The Bachelor, his season ended prematurely when he fell in love with and selected Cassie over his other two remaining bachelorettes, Tayshia Adams and Hannah Godwin.
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Colton had made up his mind before even finishing out his round of overnight Fantasy Suite dates.
However, Cassie attempted to quit The Bachelor at that stage in the process because she didn't feel ready to get engaged after dating Colton for such a short period of time.
Colton nearly ended production because he was so devastated, but he fought for Cassie to stay and ultimately convinced her to give him another chance.
Cassie was hesitant to continue but decided to stick around for Colton now that pressure of an engagement was off the table, and she proceeded to meet his family on the show and fall in love with him once filming wrapped.
RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)
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