Colton Underwood Reveals How He Really Feels About Hannah Brown As ‘The Bachelorette’

Former Bachelor star Colton Underwood recently revealed how he really feels about Hannah Brown’s turn as the star of ABC’s The Bachelorette, uttering surprising words of encouragement for his former flame.

Underwood spoke of Brown to HollywoodLife, and detailed his hopes for her as she travels on her own journey to find love while under public scrutiny.

“I think as long as she stays true to herself and she’s authentic, she’ll do great,” Underwood revealed to HollywoodLife. “And I mean this in the most positive way, but I hope she’s unfiltered. I think it’s going to be a great season.”

While Underwood didn’t gel enough with Brown to see her land a spot amongst the final three female suitors during his Bachelor season, her candor secured her a spot as the star of The Bachelorette. There, she will have a second chance to find the love of her life.

Former Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise star Ashley Iaconetti also praised Brown while speaking to HollywoodLife, stating that she and her love, Jared Haibon, think that Brown is the perfect choice to star on ABC’s reality dating competition series.

“We met her a couple of times and we just love her personality. She is totally unfiltered. She is the most relatable Bachelorette ever because I feel like she is so uncensored. She just kind of says everything and acts likes your standard girlfriend. She’s just your girlfriend becoming the Bachelorette! It’s kind of awesome,” Iaconetti stated.

Some fans have been divided on Brown being cast as The Bachelorette after her appearance on the “After the Final Rose” episode of The Bachelor, where she gave a lot of one-word answers. Many viewers were not impressed with her camera presence, and were confused when ABC picked her to head the new season of their female-led dating series.

Reality Steve revealed that Brown is not as “polished” as the previous contestants on the series, and that this could either be to her benefit or her detriment. Although she has her fans, many Bachelor viewers feel she is not one for “live television.” More critically minded fans are hopeful — that with careful editing of her taped segments — she can come across as more likable than they had previously believed.

Reality Steve also revealed that there were initially 33 men scheduled to vie for Brown’s heart on the series, but before filming even began, three were cut from the series — Joe Romeo, Matt Dione, and Ben Granger.

Brown now has 30 men to choose from, and eight will be sent home on the first night of the competition.

The Bachelorette begins airing tonight at 8 p.m. on ABC.