Colton Underwood 'The Bachelor' Controversial Coming Out

Colton Underwood experimented with men before ‘The Bachelor’

Colton Underwood, who came out last month as gay, revealed that he had experimented with men prior to starring on “The Bachelor.”

“I’ll say this. I was ‘the Virgin Bachelor,’ but I did experiment with men prior to being on ‘The Bachelorette,’” the 26-year-old reality TV star recently told Variety.

“When I say ‘hookups,’ not sex,” Underwood clarified. “I want to make that very clear that I did not have sex with a man, prior to that.”

He also revealed that he joined the dating app Grindr under an alias in 2016 and 2017, though while currently single, he is no longer on the app.

The former athlete also shared with Variety that he was blackmailed into coming out.

He came out as gay during a bombshell interview with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” last month.

At the time, he admitted that he had yet to find an emotional connection with a man.

“I never allowed myself to,” he said.

He also revealed that he contemplated suicide while struggling with his sexuality.

Underwood first joined the Bachelor Nation while competing on Becca Kufrin’s season of “The Bachelorette” in 2018. He then starred on “The Bachelor” in 2019 where, at the end of the season, he chose to date contestant Cassie Randolph, but didn’t propose to her.

Things went south with the couple after they broke up in May 2020. She claimed Underwood was stalking her and she was granted a restraining order against him. Months later, she dropped the restraining order.

“I did not physically touch or physically abuse Cassie in any way, shape or form,” he told Variety, adding, “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.

“Controlling situations to try to grasp at any part of the straight fantasy that I was trying to live out was so wrong.”

He said during the interview that it would be the last time he responded to questions about Randolph.

“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.”

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