'Bachelor' Colton Underwood Claims Kelly Ripa's Criticism Toward Series Was 'Blown out of Proportion'

Colton Underwood was not offended by Kelly Ripa's criticism of The Bachelor franchise.

The reality star who headlined the The Bachelor's latest season, revealed the Live! With Kelly and Ryan co-hosts comments, in which she called the show "gross," does not mean he has anything against her.

"I obviously know that Kelly doesn't like the show. I don't know. I was on there. I think there's some mutual level of respect. We're all, we're both on ABC, so I don't take it too personal," the 27-year-old former Bachelor told Us Weekly on Thursday. "It really isn't that big of a deal, it just got blown out of proportion."

Ripa made headlines May 14 after she told Ryan Seacrest that the ABC dating competition series "disgusts" her.

"You guys, you know how I feel about that show. It disgusts me," Ripa said on Live! With Kelly and Ryan at the time. "I can't stand the idea of 25 exceptional women fighting over one ordinary fella, in my opinion. You know how I feel, ladies. We are too special to be arguing over a guy."

After the audience applauded her statement, she added that "having said that... all of you women watch that gross, gross show." She also said that it's the same when the roles are reversed on The Bachelorette and that "it's all creepy."

Several members of Bachelor Nation clapped back at her comments at the time, including Underwood, who took to Twitter a day after she made her statement with a response.

"How mad is Kelly Ripa going to be when The Bachelor wins an Emmy this year? #ThankYouForYourConsideration," the former football player tweeted on May 15.

When he spoke with the outlet Thursday, however, Underwood said his comments were made "in good fun."

"I mean, I knew going into the show that she didn't really agree with what The Bachelor is, but that's OK," Underwood said. "It's OK to have opinions and to stand by them."

Ripa doubled down on her opinions for the franchise two days after, the current Bachelorette Hannah Brown visited the talk show on May 16.

"I am very against women fighting over a guy. I don't believe in it. I think it's — you know, weird and sets us back," Ripa said. "But now, you are in the power position. So take me through that. How does that work?"

Brown responded that she believes the franchise is not about "women fighting against each other."

"Some of my best friends came from the show and were really supportive. When you have a group of 30 people together, there's going to be people who don't like each other. That's just simple facts," the former Miss Alabama said. "It was one of the most empowering things that I ever did because I had to grow as an individual. That is why I decided that I wanted to be the Bachelorette. That's why I wanted that so bad."

The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.