‘Bachelorette’ alum Colton Underwood addresses controversial winner

Becca Kufrin may not have the full support of #BachelorNation’s fan base, following her engagement to controversial contestant Garrett Yrigoyen on Monday’s finale of “The Bachelorette,” but former love Colton Underwood believes she made the right choice.

“In regards to who Garrett is, and I’m not defending his likes whatsoever, a lot of them were wrong, but that’s not who Garrett is, that does not define Garrett, and it should not overshadow their relationship,” Underwood, 26, told Page Six on Tuesday. “This is a time when they should be celebrating their engagement and being happy.”

After his social media history was unearthed in May, Yrigoyen, 29, issued an apology for double-tapping offensive content on Instagram.

“He’s owned it, he’s apologized for it, he’s made his statement. I think people need to realize that,” Underwood continued. “It’s a mistake, you live and you learn, and Garrett has definitely learned from this.”

Though Kufrin, 28, and Yrigoyen aren’t rushing to the altar, Underwood is hopeful to find a happy ending of his own on this season of “Bachelor in Paradise.”

“I think coming off [“The Bachelorette”], I realized how cool and fun of an experience that was, it was such a good time of my life to self-discover and grow as a person, and I wanted to continue that and to continue to find love,” he said.

With former flame and “Bachelor” alum Tia Booth in “Paradise,” too, Underwood called the time in Mexico an emotional experience.

“When I say emotional, I not only mean sad, but obviously in the teaser [trailer] where I was crying, but happy, confused, it’s just a lot of emotions that came out. Overall, it was a good learning and growing experience for me.”

“Bachelor in Paradise” airs Mondays and Tuesday at 8 p.m. on ABC.