Sydney Lotuaco was one of several contestants who quit Colton Underwood’s season of The Bachelor — and she recently recalled her time on season 23 of the ABC series during Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast.
“You could definitely see that he had some favorites, for sure, and I felt he is very conscious of, like, how he’s going to be portrayed,” the 28-year-old dancer told Us. “Which is a great thing to do as a lead, like, you’re protecting yourself in a way and I think because of that a lot of the relationships didn’t move forward. He was just being so cognizant of that. People left for their own reasons, but I think that had a lot to do with it.”
Sydney, for her part, broke off her relationship with Colton, 29, during week 6 of the show.
“The decision for me to leave actually happened within that night because I didn’t pack or anything. I didn’t prepare at all for that,” she recalled. “[But] I’m realistic. And I’m like, ‘He doesn’t like me like he likes the other girls. He’s looking at her very differently.’ So you kind of notice that.”
The Bachelor in Paradise alum added that she had a “very surface-level” relationship with the former football player.
“I still wanted to be there, I still wanted to try,” she explained, noting she opted to have one final conversation with Colton before she made up her mind. “I had gotten to my wit’s end at that point. [I was] very dramatic and going through my emotions a lot those last few days.”
In addition to Sydney, Heather Martin, Elyse Dehlbom and eventual winner Cassie Randolph opted to leave season 23 during filming.
Us editors discuss Colton Underwood’s coming out in this Here for the Right Reasons podcast highlight!
“I think he had the most [people quit],” the “Something to Share” podcast host quipped.
Before Sydney left, however, she warned Colton that there were people in the house who weren’t there for the right reasons.
“If you saw how it kind of ended where the girl he wanted left, I was like, ‘I was kind of trying to help you out with that!’ I don’t have regrets of anything I said. I stand by them,” she told Us. “And I think that he needed to open up his eyes a little bit to what was around him and kind of give everyone a fair shot, which I felt like he wasn’t.”
After Cassie, 25, walked away, Colton chased after her, dumping finalists Tayshia Adams and Hannah Godwin ahead of the finale. Colton and Cassie ultimately dated for over a year before their messy split during the summer of 2020.
“I was sad to see that happen because I think both of them individually are great people,” Sydney told Us of their breakup, which included Cassie accusing Colton of harassment. “I love a happy ending. And I love to see, like, love happen. I just think maybe they outgrew their relationship. I think both of them were very new to love in a lot of ways and I think that was a great love for what it was, but because of that, it wasn’t lasting. It was sad for me to see, but I can’t say I was necessarily like, shocked by them ending.”