Now that the 23rd season of The Bachelor is underway, fans can fill out their contestant brackets and pick their favorites to win Colton Underwood's heart. But what if Underwood doesn't give out the final rose?
Over the past few seasons, Bachelor Nation has known by the time the show airs whether or not the Bachelor or Bachelorette are engaged by the finale. But Underwood has kept quiet about whether or not he ends up finding love.
"I want everybody to go on this ride and this journey with me, so I don’t want to spoil anything and I don’t want to give anything away," Underwood told The Hollywood Reporter. "It was challenging and it was hard at times. I knew it was going to be hard at times and I embraced it and I loved the fact that it was. But I will say, I’m exactly where I need to be in my life right now."
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That is a pretty revealing choice of words, seeing as former Bachelor Nick Viall similarly kept quiet and well — that relationship seemed questionable to a lot of fans and ended in a broken engagement. Just because a Bachelor or Bachelorette says they find love on the show doesn't guarantee a long-lasting relationship.
Underwood's secretiveness around the show's outcome could also show how The Bachelor's producers are capitalizing on a new way to add even more twists and turns to the reality series. In fact, the most dramatic moment of Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s season of The Bachelor happened after the show ended. In an unprecedented move, Luyendyk Jr. broke off his engagement to Becca Kufrin on camera to get with his runner-up and current fiancée Lauren Burnham.
As Bachelor Nation knows, no rules on The Bachelor are sacred, so anything can happen."I did do things differently," said Underwood of his season. "I challenged the production of the show, my relationships and myself throughout this entire journey. [...] Like I said, I don’t want to spoil too much for you, but I’m really looking forward to this being the best season ever."