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Colton May Propose On 'The Bachelor', But It Doesn't Mean She'll Say Yes, BTW

by Candace Ganger

Colton Underwood's season of The Bachelor is nearing its end which means there may (or may not) be a proposal on the horizon. That is the whole point, you know. However, promos shown after the last few episodes reveal a lot more drama will come before that final decision is made. And after all the talk of some not being there "for the right reasons," it's hard to say who Colton will choose, or if he'll propose at all. Gasp! Not all leading men end up getting down on one knee so it's nerve-racking to not know if Colton is engaged after The Bachelor or not.

While I can't say with 100 percent certainty the Season 23 leading man is now spoken for, some fans have speculated an engagement didn't happen just yet. The reason? A ring box that appeared empty. Don't let that fool you though. Cheeky host, Chris Harrison, made jokes about the situation when asked by Entertainment Tonight saying, "What does that mean? Does it mean that Neil Lane didn't give us one this season? Could be. Could it be that Chris Harrison stole it? I have a whole chest of rings." That would explain it. But seriously. Throughout the entire journey, Colton's made it clear he wants to walk away with a future bride at the end of this. The tricky part is sorting through the relationships with the final three to narrow it down to only one. Monday night's episode showed Caelynn as the next to go home — with no prior indication she'd be up for elimination and Colton going so far as to say he was falling in love with her, too. This leaves Hannah G., Tayshia, and Cassie up for the role of Future Mrs. Underwood.

"I don’t know if I’m engaged yet," Colton joked with E! earlier in the month. "I tune in every Monday night almost nervous to see if that’s the night." I get the humor to deflect but he continued adding, "I just think overall, the experience of going through this season. One, I wouldn’t want to spoil it for people. But two, there’s been a lot of ups and downs, and I sort of want to take the viewers and everybody on that ride with me." OK, but ARE. YOU. ENGAGED?

In all seriousness, with one of the frontrunners — Caelynn — out of the picture, it's time to stack up all the clues to determine whether Colton finds his forever lady on this show in the most non-spoiler-type-of-way possible. If you look back at previous Bachelors and Bachelorettes, a lot of them spoke of their engagements (though not revealing to whom) before the season began so viewers knew that yes, a proposal was on it way. This includes, Rachel, Becca, and Arie. It doesn't mean Colton isn't engaged, it's just an interesting aside. He previously told The Hollywood Reporter, "I’m exactly where I need to be in my life right now," which could mean he's engaged or not. If you couple that with his super vague interview on Ellen where he said, "I can say, I am definitely the happiest I’ve ever been in my life," you still get no answers. Ugh — please just say you're engaged, or not, already, Colton. Here's a better idea — deflect if you're engaged:

OK so maybe he is and maybe he isn't. He doesn't seem willing to spill anytime soon. With rumors swirling over women there who aren't ready to get engaged (cough, Cassie, cough), and Colton's blinders on around those he's kept in the running and may feel more for than she does (cough, Cassie, cough), there could be a proposal in the season finale — but that doesn't mean whoever Colton chooses says yes.

The Bachelor saga continues Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.