Colton Underwood Confronts ‘Bachelor’ Past as ‘The Traitors’ Fallout Intensifies
Colton Underwood is once again at the center of a reality-TV storm after his outspoken run on the fourth season of The Traitors and the online reaction that followed. The developments matter now because the backlash — including threats that he says targeted his family — has forced both show producers and his network partners to intervene while fellow reality veterans publicly weigh in on whether Underwood can repair his public image.
Colton Underwood’s Traitors Exit, Online Harassment and Network Backing
On season 4 of The Traitors, Underwood emerged as a polarizing figure: a strategy marked by aggressive vote-whipping, public naming of targets and high-drama moments in the castle that culminated in his being sent home. Viewers and commenters criticized his approach and even mocked a beaded corset he wore at the season’s banquet. The cast’s producers issued a statement urging fans to stop harassing and cyberbullying members of the cast, and Underwood has said that the online mockery escalated to death threats against him and his family.
When the backlash intensified, Peacock and NBCUniversal communicated their support for Underwood, telling him they had his back during the period when criticism surged. Underwood has acknowledged that reunions make him nervous and reflected on the contrast between the brash, confident persona he displayed on camera and a quieter off-camera manner.
What makes this notable is the speed with which a single season of a competition series translated into a broader reputational crisis: an aggressive game strategy led directly to sustained public mockery, which in turn prompted official statements from producers and reassurances from network partners.
Wells Adams and the Question of Redemption on Reality TV
Wells Adams, who competed on season 3 of The Traitors and remains an active commentator in reality circles, has publicly questioned whether Underwood has earned a redemptive arc. Adams observed that Underwood had largely stepped out of the public eye in recent years and noted a brief return to television in a dating-show appearance with Kaitlyn Bristowe. That limited visibility, Adams suggested, has not shielded Underwood from scrutiny tied to prior controversies.
Adams told podcast listeners that Underwood will need to confront and answer for past actions if he wants to remain in the public sphere, framing accountability as a necessary step toward rehabilitation. He contrasted Underwood’s trajectory with contestants on other seasons who have been able to emerge with improved public perceptions after participating on the show.
Past Episodes: Football, The Bachelorette and a 2020 Restraining Order
Underwood’s reality-TV profile was built on a longer history: he spent two years in the NFL before transitioning to television, and he appeared on the 14th season of The Bachelorette in 2018. He later led The Bachelor and left that season in a relationship with contestant Cassie Randolph; their split was followed months later by a temporary restraining order granted to Randolph in September 2020.
Those earlier chapters continue to shape audience perceptions. For many viewers, Underwood’s time on The Traitors was not an isolated performance but a new episode in a longer public narrative that includes on-screen romance, off-screen legal conflict and an ongoing debate about how contestants should be held accountable.
Underwood has spoken directly about the experience of returning to a competitive set and about the discrepancy between how he behaves in front of cameras and how he shows up in private. With producers publicly pushing back against harassment and network executives signaling support, the immediate effect has been to slow the momentum of online attacks. At the same time, commentary from peers like Wells Adams signals that a fuller reckoning — and perhaps a path toward redemption — will depend on how Underwood addresses questions left from his past roles on reality television.
