Colton Underwood Reveals the Sinister Reason He Decided to Come Out Publicly

Colton Underwood’s decision to come out publicly as gay last month on Good Morning America wasn’t exactly on his own timeline, the former Bachelor admitted in a new feature for Variety Wednesday. The former ABC leading man shared that he was actually “getting blackmailed” by an anonymous person who threatened to “out” him to the press in the months leading up to his public announcement after spotting him at a spa known for catering to gay clientele.

Receiving the threatening email during his “rock bottom and spiral,” Underwood said he forwarded it to his publicist in a panic, which forced them to have a candid conversation about his sexuality for the first time. The former NFL player added that he never saw the alleged nude photos the blackmailer claimed to have and said he “should have never been there” to begin with.

Underwood first appeared on Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette but was cast as the “virgin bachelor” after producers learned he had never had sex. Despite that being a major focus of his season, Underwood said he “did experiment” with men before first stepping into the spotlight, and had joined Grindr under an alias in 2016 or 2017. “When I say ‘hookups,’ not sex,” Underwood explained. “I want to make that very clear that I did not have sex with a man, prior to that.”

Underwood would go on to date contestant Cassie Randolph during his season, but their relationship would come to a messy end in 2020 when she obtained a restraining order against him, alleging he stalked her a placed a tracking device on her car. “I never want people to think that I’m coming out to change the narrative, or to brush over and not take responsibility for my actions, and now that I have this gay life that I don’t have to address my past as a straight man,” Underwood said of the situation. “Controlling situations to try to grasp at any part of the straight fantasy that I was trying to live out was so wrong.”

The reality personality continued that when Randolph ended their relationship, he went to “such a dark place” because he knew it was time he would have to face his sexuality. “It’s not who I am as a human being, and it’s not how I carry myself,” he apologized to Randolph and her family. “If there was anything I could do to take more ownership, I would. But also, out of respect to her, I don’t want to get into the details. I want this interview to be the last time I address her because it’s not fair for her to have her name in articles every time I talk. I’m sorry, and I want her to know that I hope she has the best, most beautiful life.”