Fans of The Bachelor are calling out producers for romanticizing Colton Underwood’s famous fence jump during his season of the ABC reality show.
Amid reports that the former reality star’s ex-girlfriend, Cassie Randolph, has filed a restraining order against him, some viewers said they aren’t surprised. More than five months after the couple’s breakup, Cassie accused her ex of stalking her, sending her bizarre text messages, and putting a tracker on her car.
Viewers of the rose-filled dating franchise reacted on Twitter, with many saying they knew something was off from the get-go. Others pointed to Colton’s highly publicized fence-jumping scene as a major red flag that happened nearly two years ago.
“The way The Bachelor portrayed Colton’s desperation for Cassie in the show was disgusting,” one viewer wrote. “She rejected him and he still went after her. They portrayed it as romantic, replaying the fence hopping scene over and over.”
‘The Colton fence jump after getting dumped should have been a red flag, but instead, producers pressured Cassie into taking him back,” another added.
“ The Bachelor enabled Colton’s behavior by pressuring Cassie to stick w him & framing his fence jump as romantic. No- he didn’t know how to handle rejection! And now this,” a third chimed in.
“Y’all really thought Colton jumping the fence was relationship goals when in reality it was toxic behavior,” another added.
Last year, ABC got a lot of mileage out of Colton’s athletic feat. The clip of the former NFL player jumping a six-foot fence in one swoop was heavily promoted throughout his season.
After Cassie attempted to break things off with Colton during their overnight date in Portgual, fans saw the distraught leading man cry over the rejection before he flung himself over the tall white barrier while declaring he was “done.” What ensued was a chase through the dark to find the “missing” ABC lead who, once found, threatened to quit the show over the unexpected rejection by his lady love. Colton later tracked Cassie down at her hotel room, and the two agreed to try to make their relationship work in the real world.
Host Chris Harrison repeatedly told outlets such as Entertainment Tonight that Colton expressed his emotions for Cassie like a superhero. But it’s clear that many fans don’t agree that his act of “love” was loving. Instead, they see it as a red flag that the relationship was never a healthy one.