Onyeka Ehie’s Bachelor journey was cut short not because of a lack of connection, but rather because she was too close to the truth.
On the final episode of his new show, Coming Out Colton, former Bachelor lead Colton Underwood meets with Ehie to chat about their relationship. Underwood says she was one of the first women to reach out to him after coming out — “Happy for @colton for speaking his truth. We support you” she wrote on Twitter — which “meant a lot” to him.
In a confessional, Underwood says that while The Bachelor was filming in Thailand, he and Ehie had discussed a confrontation she’d had with another contestant. Shortly after, Ehie was eliminated. “People saw that as a lack of connection, and in reality, it was me being intimidated,” he admits. “I was scared that if we ended up together, she would call me out on my shit.”
While tanning poolside with Ehie, Underwood asks if she had any idea that he wasn’t straight, and she admits that she felt he’d put up a wall that other men she’d dated hadn't. “I think there was a part of me who was more intimidated by you that you would have put me in a corner quicker,” he says.
Ehie responds: “Oh yeah. I’d be like, ‘What’s going on? Something’s off. Let’s talk about this.’ And that’s who I am."
Later, he says he felt “comfort and safety with women [on The Bachelor] who were a little more reserved and unsure and shy” because it gave him room to hide.
Ehie and Underwood also discuss The Bachelor’s Fantasy Suites segment, in which contestants have the opportunity to go on an overnight date with the lead. Underwood admits he was extremely nervous before his first Fantasy Suite because he knew he was attracted to men. He also confesses that, despite the 70-degree weather, he “slept in sweatpants and a sweatshirt” during his overnight date with contestant Tayshia Adams, as he didn’t “want to give her the wrong impression.”
“Let’s say I had been the one that you picked at the end, after Fantasy Suites. I would have been like, ‘Something’s off, Colton. Let’s talk about this,’ ” Ehie says. That’s why, Underwood replies, the dates made him so anxious that he only completed one. Shortly after his overnight date with Adams, frontrunner Cassie Randolph admitted she was not ready to get engaged and quit the show. Underwood ran after her, famously jumping over a fence to get her back. Underwood later gave her his final rose, and the two went on to date for a year and a half before breaking up in May 2020.
However, the relationship between Underwood and Randolph soon took a turn after allegations emerged that Underwood was stalking and harassing her. Four months after their breakup, Randolph was granted a temporary restraining order against her ex, according to People magazine. She dropped her request two months later after the parties were able to “reach a private agreement.”
While the women on Underwood’s season — along with the rest of the world — found out about his sexuality on Good Morning America, Ehie reassures Underwood that most of her former castmates are supportive.
“Not everyone’s gonna understand, and that’s okay, but honestly, everyone I’ve talked to, no one’s felt like, ‘He played us,’ ” she says. “You’re loved. You’re accepted. I don’t feel like I was led astray. If anything, I feel like I’m proud that I was a part of your journey.”
