I don’t think that’s exactly what he said.

I was nominated, I never actually signed up. I turned it down over, and over, and over again. I actually finally committed to it four days before everyone was supposed to leave for the show. And the only reason I committed to it was because Clare was announced Bachelorette at that time.

My interpretation was that he had been nominated, had gone through the whole application process, but hadn’t fully committed because he didn’t know who it was going to be. I do think Clare was more his type than someone like Tayshia or Tia (the other names at the time). He seems to go for older, confident women with a strong presence so he probably did like her on paper and probably thought he would go far with her. I think it’s basically what happened with Cassie who, who turned down other seasons and so they sold it as “Cassie going for Colton”, when that was kind of romanticizing/oversimplifying the situation.