He may not have been a household name before his time on The Bachelorette, but that doesn’t mean that Colton Underwood had never stepped into the spotlight. Way before he strolled the beach looking for love on Bachelor in Paradise or found himself cast as the new star of The Bachelor, Colton was stepping out onto red carpets left and right. No, not because of his football career — though we’re sure being in the NFL opened plenty of doors, too. He was stepping out with his then-girlfriend, Olympian Aly Raisman. Check out the gallery below to see pictures from their relationship.
The famed gymnast and football player dated back in the day, and she’s one of Colton’s very few ex-girlfriends that we know about. The others? Bachelorette Becca Kufrin and fellow BIP castmate Tia Booth. But his relationship with Aly is the first that we know about, if not his first relationship ever.
2 of 9
Colton revealed on The Bachelor that he’s actually a virgin, not because he was waiting for marriage, but because he was waiting for the right girl. Before Aly, it seemed that he didn’t actually find much time to date thanks to all the hours and effort he dedicated to his sports dreams. In their case, though, it was actually football that brought them together.
3 of 9
While Colton was on the roster for the Oakland Raiders, one of his teammates, Andrew East, was married to Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson, aka Aly’s friend and teammate. Through a video showed to Aly in an interview in August 2016, Colton asked her out, and eventually the two made it happen IRL. And they didn’t just go on the one date — they made it to Sports Illustrated parties, festivals, and award shows.
4 of 9
Though they split by June 2017, and Aly may have shaded him in her book, during the time in between they definitely had some incredible adventures. Sure, they may not be quite Bachelor worthy — it’s hard to measure up to a romantic candle-lit dinner in a castle or riding horses as the sun sets on the beaches of Greece (or whatever) — but walking the red carpet with your bae isn’t exactly your average Friday night either.
5 of 9
Neither is sitting in one of the first few rows of the Lakers game! We wonder if Aly was the one that got them in here, or if it was actually one of Colton’s connections from his days as a professional athlete himself.
6 of 9
Colton may be about to jet off on new, unbelievable dates with 25 gorgeous women, but his past dates with the singularly gorgeous Aly still leave us plenty jealous.
7 of 9
After all, they don’t invite just anybody to the official after parties for the Golden Globes.
8 of 9
And Colton got to go to two. He hit up the NBC party with girlfriend Aly, and then they made their way to the official HBO after party.
9 of 9
She even introduced him to some of her famous friends, including the legendary Simone Biles and other Olympians like gold medal-winning swimmer Conor Dwyer, silver medal-winning gymnast Danell Leyva, silver medal-winning gymnast Madison Kocian, gold medal-winning Canadian track star Brianne Theisen-Eaton, and Ashton Eaton, who nabbed two gold medals and holds world-records in heptathlon and decathlons. Now that’s an impressive group – and thanks to Aly, Colton got to hang out among them.
In the coming months, he’ll be jetting off to new states and countries for all kind of incredible stops along his journey, but you certainly can’t say that Aly never took him anywhere nice.