Colton Underwood is officially out of contract with ABC — and he’s not holding back. The former Bachelor candidly spoke about his strained relationship with the producers exclusively with Us Weekly, including why they didn’t want him talking about Peter Weber’s season of the show.

“One of my goals of the show is to break the fourth wall and I don’t think production really liked that I was on board with that,” the 28-year-old reality TV personality told Us Weekly’s “Here for the Right Reasons” podcast. “But nobody wants to feel tricked nowadays and and I think that was my growing frustration as I was, you know, watching or not really watching but hearing about Peter season and seeing the the recaps on Twitter, and they wouldn’t let me write about it. They wouldn’t let me talk about his season because I knew I’d keep it to real. They knew that I knew too much of what was going on.”

Underwood cited Victoria Fuller’s ex-boyfriend Chase Rice showing up to sing for her and Weber, 28, during their one-on-one date as an example.

“Victoria doesn’t show up with Chase Rice singing as her ex on accident,” he told Us. “The whole Victoria situation I feel bad for that poor lady and I feel frustrated for Peter, just because there was so much confusion going on. And I feel like that’s the producers job is to sort of help guide the lead, guide the person I felt like they hung him out to dry in so many different ways and set him up for failure.”

While Underwood, who met girlfriend Cassie Randolph on the series, is openly frustrated with the franchise, he did acknowledge that he isn’t going to “completely” bash the producers.

“I realize, like, this is an entertainment business, it’s a business and you don’t take things personally, but I’m still gonna maintain a professional relationship with you,” he said. “I just asked for that in return. I think when the line started getting crossed, and I got told to be a ‘good little boy’ and ‘keep my mouth shut.’ Like that’s when I was like, ‘You don’t get to say that.’”

The former football player added that he felt like controlled by the ABC series even after his season stopped airing in March 2019.

“You don’t get to still act like you have this control and this power over me. Yes, I have a contract with you. Yes, I have an NDA. Yes, I’m going to abide by that. But please, don’t do demean me,” he said. “Please don’t threaten me. Please don’t make these statements saying you made me when this is America, you’re only as good as your last job. And if that’s was The Bachelor for me, that was The Bachelor for me and I felt like I did a good job to keep moving forward.”

He concluded: “I’ll never bite the hand that feeds me. I appreciate them. I’m thankful for them.”

For more from Underwood, whose book, The First Time, is available now, listen to Us Weekly’s “Here For the Right Reasons” podcast.