‘Bachelor’ Colton Underwood Says He Was ‘Touched Inappropriately’ at Charity Event

The Bachelor’s Colton Underwood was forced to exit a charity event early Wednesday evening after allegedly being “touched inappropriately.”

The 27-year-old ABC star explained his early departure on his Instagram Story after the San Diego event raising money for Underwood’s Legacy Foundation, which he started in 2015 to benefit people with cystic fibrosis.

“I’m sorry if you didn’t get a picture at the event last night, but at one point during the event I was grabbed and touched inappropriately while people were throwing cameras in my face,” he wrote on his Instagram Story. “I am the type of person who would have stood in line for hours to make sure anyone who supported the event got a picture, but once that happened I had to do what was best for me as a human being.”

“I didn’t sign up to be a piece of meat or a zoo animal. I hope we run into each other at another event or on the street and I can take the time to say hello,” he continued. “Thank you again for coming to support Legacy and the fight against CF.”

Underwood is currently looking for love in the ongoing season of The Bachelor, after first appearing on Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette, followed by a stint on Bachelor in Paradise, where he had a brief romance with Tia Booth.

The former NFL player is currently undergoing a crisis of confidence at this point in the season after sending home controversial contestant Demi Burnett, just moments after she told him she was falling in love with him.

“I appreciate you saying that to me. There’s a part of me that just doesn’t know if we can get there,” he told her. “I just don’t know right now if I can see myself with you at the end of this.”

After sending her home, Underwood was confused when she and two other of the women and his season hinted that there were still women in the house whose motives were less than pure.

“That’s the third person who’s said there are still people here who aren’t ready and that’s f—ing terrifying,” he said in Monday’s episode. “That’s my greatest fear in all of this, that I’m gonna end up with somebody who’s not here to be engaged at the end of all this.”

He asked, “Am I f—ing missing something?”

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

Photo credit: Getty/John Medina