Colton Underwood didn’t fall in love for the first time while on The Bachelor — it actually happened with Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman when the two dated from 2016-2017.
He opened up about the relationship on the LadyGang podcast with Keltie Knight, Jac Vanek, and Becca Tobin when Knight asked about his “worst heartbreak.”
“I wouldn’t say it was on the show. I would say it was my first love,” Underwood said of Raisman. “While it was confusing and hard in the beginning, it also taught me a lot about myself, what I need, what I want, what I can do better in a relationship. It was, like, a big growing, a big step for me. It was really tough.”
The two got together after Underwood made a congratulatory video for Raisman during the 2016 Rio Olympics. He was playing for the Oakland Raiders alongside former gymnast Shawn Johnson’s husband, Andrew East. “My roommate, my teammates, everybody over here is super proud of you,” he said in the video, adding, “If you’re ever in San Jose and want to go on a double date.”
She thanked him for the video on Twitter, also writing that she was “looking forward” to meeting him. Everything must’ve worked out, because the two made their red carpet debut later that year, in December.
Underwood and Raisman stayed together until around June 2017, though she said at the time that they were “still friends.”
According to Us Weekly, Underwood has hesitated to speak publicly about his relationship with Raisman out of respect for what she went through with Larry Nassar, the former Team USA doctor who was accused of sexual misconduct by more than 141 women and later sentenced to life in prison.
“To be very candid about it, she’s going through enough right now. She doesn’t deserve to be in this at all,” Underwood say in July 2018. “I have so much love and respect for Aly and the voice that she is and the role model that she is for every young woman out there.”