Sound The Alarms, Colton Is Holding A Box Without A Ring In That 'Bachelor' Promo

Colton Underwood has made it very clear that he wants to end this season of The Bachelor in love and engaged to his future wife. But unfortunately, not every plan comes to life exactly as hoped, and Colton's proposal might be one of those ill-fated plans. Some eagle-eyed fans noted that Colton isn't holding a ring in the latest promo for The Bachelor, so it might be time to start panicking that he doesn't get the happy ending we're all hoping for.

With previous seasons of The Bachelor, the lead has revealed whether or not he ends up engaged at the end of the season. But, this time around, Colton has been conspicuously cagey about revealing whether or not he's set to get married by the end of the season. In the promo, Colton says he's never loved anyone as much as he loves "her," most likely talking about the woman he ends the season with. It sounds like he's happily ready to be with the woman he loves, except for the fact that there's something fishy about his proposal scene. @Keegs_2015 on Twitter noted Colton's ring box is empty:

Towards the end of the promo, Colton paces back and forth while holding a ring box, looking like any other ol' Bachelor in the moments before he gets down on one knee. But, there's one major difference between this scene and the ones from past Bachelors' proposals: There is no ring in the ring box. Usually, you need a ring to propose, so does the fact that Colton isn't holding a ring mean that there's no proposal at all? You can watch the moment yourself at minute 1:45 in the trailer and try to figure out what it means.

Some fans have contributed their own explanations for why Colton's ring box might be empty. For example, there's the possibility that the ring is only missing because the producers of the show didn't want to reveal too much too soon.

Engagement rings are always a big surprise, and so maybe the producers of the show want to keep the suspense up to save the reveal for the proposal itself. But, on the other hand, the explanation could also be a super thoughtful and romantic one. Maybe Colton is proposing using a memento from night one of this season:

Bachelor Nation has not forgotten Cassie's adorable limo entrance when she presented Colton with a box of butterflies, and Colton's equally adorable response to save one. What if he kept that butterfly all this time and uses it to propose to Cassie? It would be a perfect explanation for the no-ring situation, and it would be beyond romantic.

But, Colton provided a small explanation of his own for Ring-Gate 2019. Colton quote-tweeted @Keegs_2015's original tweet with a message of his own:

So according to Colton's tweet, while he's holding an empty box in the promo, the ring in question is already on a lucky lady's finger. That provides a little optimism that Colton does still actually end up happily engaged. But then again, the rest of promo also shows a whole lot of drama ahead for Colton – including his long-awaited fence-jumping – so who knows what turns his season will take.

Season 23 of The Bachelor continues on Monday, Feb. 18, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.