Caelynn Miller-Keyes Had ‘Very Low Expectations’ of Colton Underwood Before ‘Bachelor’

COLTON UNDERWOOD, CAELYNN
Josh Vertucci/ABC

Caelynn Miller-Keyes has nothing but positive things to say about Bachelor star Colton Underwood now, but she didn’t always think so highly of him. In fact, she was actually disappointed when it was announced that the 27-year-old would be the one handing out the roses for Season 23.

“I had very low expectations going into it,” she revealed during an interview on The Ellen Show‘s YouTube channel. “I was not excited when they announced [Colton as the lead].”

Yikes, sorry Colton. Apparently, the former beauty queen was initially hoping that Blake Horstmann or Jason Tartick — two of the finalists from Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette would get the role.

“I told [Colton] this! I told him this on the season,” she admitted with a laugh.

After they met, though, her feelings clearly changed. She ended up becoming one of the frontrunners to win Colton’s heart until she was eliminated unexpectedly after her hometown date. Although looking back, she can see that she didn’t have as strong of a connection with Colton as some of the other contestants, she confirmed that she was “absolutely in love” and “smitten” with him during her time on the show.

Now that filming was wrapped, Caelynn is trying to put the pieces of her life back together. While she’s not ruling out the potential to find love on the franchise’s summer spin-off Bachelor In Paradise, she’s not interested in becoming the next Bachelorette lead.

“I struggled so much,” she said. “I just don’t think it’s for me.”

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