After recovering from coronavirus, Colton Underwood is now promoting his The Bachelor tell-all book

Los Angeles Times

Colton says he was almost fully recovered within days after his March 20 public announcement that he tested positive for coronavirus. Now Colton has a new job: promoting his tell-all book, The First Time: Finding Myself and Looking for Love on Reality TV, which Simon & Schuster released Tuesday. "This is such a weird time, not only for myself but for everybody, and I don’t want to seem careless going around promoting my book," he tells the Los Angeles Times. "But I also think it’s an interesting time where people want to read something. I hope people can find an escape in it or something they can take away from it." Underwood adds that he opted to tell all, including his frustrations with the producers and the playing up with the virginity angle, now that he's no longer under contract. "I just felt like it was really important for me to take back control of my story," says Colton, who worked with a ghostwriter for four to five months. I felt like I lost control of my life, where they did what they needed to do to make a TV show — but at my expense. This was a very therapeutic way for me to sort of take ownership in it, and I think it starts with the title of leaning into something that they had so much control over." Asked if he took a no-holds-barred approach to the book, Colton responded: "I could have, but what would be the benefit? On one hand, I’m very grateful to the franchise because I’m happily in love with Cassie and I can’t thank them enough for that. But on the other hand, it’s show business and I recognize that. I respect them for doing their job — they’re very, very good at their job. But it doesn’t necessarily mean I have to agree with everything."

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