The latest Bachelor Nation feud is dividing the franchise's stars.
Even though it's the off season for The Bachelor, Bachelor Nation is making sure to keep the drama going.
Ever since former Bachelorette Rachel Lindsay revealed that she and Raven Gates are no longer BFFs, everyone from Nick Viall to Hannah Brown has come forward to take sides in the matter. The back-and-forth even landed Lindsay in another feud, this time with Colton Underwood.
Keep reading to find the ways these off-season feuds unfolded.
Fans notice Gates didn't attend Lindsay's August wedding
Lindsay and Gates first met and became friends while vying for Viall's heart on The Bachelor in 2017. Gates was the runner up on the season, while Lindsay came in third. Lindsay went on to become the Bachelorette and Gates got engaged to her boyfriend, Adam Gottschalk, in June.
When Lindsay tied the knot with Bryan Abasolo back in August, fans of the franchise expected to see quite a few Bachelor Nation alums pictures from the nuptials. While some including Kevin Wendt, Alex Bordy and Eric Bigger were in attendance, Gates, hot off the heels of her engagement, was conspicuously absent.
Fans quickly began digging into the women's relationship, and soon discovered that the last time either posted about the other was all the way back in July 2018 when they vacationed together in Bermuda. All seemed well at the time, with Gates gushing, "Big laughs with Big Rach" and Lindsay writing that she was "Living my BEST life with the BEST of them."
Lindsay confirms that she and Gates are no longer friends
With neither Lindsay nor Gates commenting on the matter, rumors of a rift between the pair quieted for a few months. That stayed true until Lindsay stopped by Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen on Oct. 3 and responded to a fan question about her and Gates' relationship.
"I can't say," Lindsay said of what led to their friend breakup. "I promised I wouldn't say, but it was enough for me to not want to be friends with her anymore."
"And you're still not friends with her?" Cohen asked, to which Lindsay replied, "No. Not at all. And I never will be."
Colton Underwood inserts himself into the drama
Just hours after Lindsay made her WWHL comments, Underwood responded to post about the drama on Instagram, writing, "Shocker. Rachel mad at another person... does she like anyone?"
According to multiple reports, Underwood, who's dating Cassie Randolph, later left another Instagram comment claiming he wasn't trying to wade into the feud and insisting that his beef was solely with Lindsay.
"I’m not weighing in on the Rachel/Raven drama. I could[n't] care less about that, not my business," he wrote. "What is my business is the countless number of times she’s spoke poorly of me… including that time she ran her mouth about me to Cassie…Funny thing is I have never met her."
Hannah Brown gives her two cents
Because the former Bachelorette was busy during her Dancing With the Stars run, days after Underwood's comments Brown told Us Weekly that the brewing feud was "news to me."
"I have met Rachel, and I haven’t met Raven but she’s been so kind to me on social media," Brown said. "... I’ve heard from a lot of people that have worked with both Rachel and I, we have, she has strong opinions and she’s not afraid to say them."
"So I think that is just who she is and I mean, people could probably say that about me," she continued. "She’s just a very opinionated, strong woman, and I think that’s great."
Lindsay spills the tea
During an Oct. 16 appearance on Whit & Ry, Lindsay spoke at length about both sets of drama for the first time; expressing regret over the Gates coverage and disbelief over the situation with Underwood.
"I hate that the Raven thing is getting so much attention... I've never brought it up. If I'm asked about it I respond," Lindsay explained. "And I think that it just garnered so much attention because you saw she wasn't at the wedding. So then people started asking questions why. And I was very matter of fact in how I answered it because I honestly thought people would say, 'Oh, they're not friends' and just move on. And instead it just took on a life of its own that was honestly never my intention."
Next, Lindsay turned her focus to Underwood, saying that his Instagram comment "didn't help" matters and inviting him on her podcast, Bachelor Happy Hour, to talk face-to-face.
"I would love for Colton to actually come on the podcast because what I'm not gonna do is entertain you in the comment section of somebody else's post," she said. "What I will do is have a grown a** conversation with you and we can talk about it."
Lindsay went on to express confusion at the origin of her beef with Underwood, even reflecting back on the time she Randolph had "a fantastic time" and "partied the night away."
"Your girl follows me on Instagram, so I don't know what I could've said... Cassie and I met in July at a dinner and we were with other people. We partied the night away. I had a fantastic time with Cassie and her sister and there were other people there. And I actually gave Cassie a lot of advice," Lindsay said, adding that Randolph thanked her for her help and even took a selfie with her.
While Lindsay couldn't point to one bad moment in the conversation with Randolph, she did recall expressing her general disinterest in Underwood himself.
"[Cassie] did say to me, 'Oh, I know you don't like Colton,'" Lindsay said. "And I remember saying, 'I'm just indifferent. I just don't believe that I have to be best friends with everybody just because we all come from the same TV show... My thing has always been with Colton I felt like I never really knew who he was and so I just wish I got to understand the real him. I just wish he would more so be himself on camera because people constantly tell me he's totally different off camera.' And she kind of agreed with me."
"... It’s just so petty to me. As much as I wanted to go at him in the comments section, I just thought, 'You know what? Excuse me. I need to go interview Oprah Winfrey.' That was literally my mind-set. Like, I'm sorry. I don’t have time for this," Lindsay continued. "But I would love to have a grown conversation with him. I'd love to hash it out... and discuss it in person. I didn't know he was holding this resentment towards me."
Underwood responds to Lindsay's podcast request
The same day Lindsay's interview dropped, Underwood took to Twitter to say that he'd appear on her podcast on one condition.
"I’ll come on your podcast Rachel. One condition: ask your producer to leave it raw, unedited and untouched," he wrote. "Looking forward to meeting you & pointing out your hypocrisy over the last year"
Dean Unglert weighs in
Following the back-and-forth from Lindsay and Underwood, Unglert, who came in fourth place of Lindsay's season of The Bachelorette in 2017, said that he doesn't "think anyone can really take anyone's side."
"I do understand that Rachel has been super critical of Colton. It kind of makes sense for him to be super defensive and be like, 'OK, how many people are you going to talk crap about?'" Unglert told E! "I think this is the first time we have seen two series leads pitted against each other in this weird off-camera battle. Colton is right to want to defend his relationship with Cassie Randolph and Rachel is right to want to have an opinion. No one is really right and no one is really wrong."
After giving his diplomatic answer, Unglert even offered to moderate a conversation between Lindsay and Underwood, should he agree to go on her podcast.
"I think Colton and Rachel should definitely sit down and clear the air. If I could mediate a conversation between Colton and Rachel, absolutely that's great," he said. "It will be interesting to see what will happen because Rachel is a good negotiator and a lawyer for a long time. Colton is strong in his convictions as well. I would be interested in listening to that conversation personally."
Nick Viall predicts a civil war
Though Underwood has yet to take Lindsay up on her offer to appear on her podcast, Viall, a Bachelor franchise veteran, did stop by the show for an interview. While on the podcast, Viall wasn't quite as optimistic about the situation as Unglert.
"I feel like there’s a civil war brewing amongst Bachelor Nation cast," he said. "It’s all social media’s fault."
"It's [like] high school... and everyone's just like pretending to be friends," he continued. "Everyone's just going after the same FabFitFun deals and everyone's just, like, jocking for position. And everyone's just talking s**t. It's kind of fun. It's like the Marvel Civil War movie. Everyone's kinda friends, like, we all kinda like each other and then we get into this big fight."
Though Viall -- who broke up with Gates in the 2017 finale of his Bachelor season, one episode after sending Lindsay home -- refrained from explicitly taking a side in the feud, he did note that "the Raven people got to see, I don’t think was Raven."
"I quite like Raven, this is not about me criticizing Raven because I don’t like her. I think she’s great. I think she’s great in person. I think the character she portrays herself to be on the TV show and on Instagram is full of s**t and lying and bulls**t," he said. "I think she talks s**t about people all the time. I think that’s totally fine. I don’t like how sometimes people pretend to not be a certain way.”
"I think Raven is great, I quite liked her for the person I got to know, and that person was someone who was snarky and intelligent and had somewhat of a dark side to her," he continued. "She could be manipulative and all those things. The whole picture of Raven, that was charming."
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