‘The Bachelor’ star Colton Underwood comes out as gay: ‘I’ve hated myself for a long time’
Colton Underwood, who starred on “The Bachelor” in 2019, came out as gay during an interview Wednesday with “Good Morning America.”
Underwood, 29, said this year has “probably made a lot of people look themselves in the mirror and figure out who they are.”
“For me, I’ve ran from myself for a long time, I’ve hated myself for a long time, and I’m gay,” he told “GMA” host Robin Roberts. “I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it, and the next step in all of this was sort of letting people know. I’m still nervous, but yeah, it’s been a journey for sure.”
He reportedly will appear in a Netflix reality series focusing on his life as a gay man.
Underwood was the main star of the 23rd season of “The Bachelor” after competing on a season of “The Bachelorette” the previous year.
“I’ve known I was different since the age of 6, and I couldn’t process it, and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was until high school, my freshman year, when I knew I was gay,” Underwood told Roberts. “By that time, I had already grown up in the Catholic Church. I had gone to Catholic grade school. I had learned in the Bible that gay is a sin.”
Underwood is a former football tight end who was on the practice squads of the Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders.
The reality star was in high-profile relationships with Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman and former “Bachelor” contestant Cassie Randolph. He and Randolph split last year, with Randolph accusing him placing a tracking device in her car. She sought a restraining order that she has since asked to drop.
On Wednesday, Underwood said he is now the “happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life”
