Former ‘Bachelor,’ Raider Underwood: ‘I’m gay’
Colton Underwood told Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” that he is gay, in an interview that aired Wednesday morning.
“This year’s been a lot for a lot of people and it’s probably made a lot of people look at themselves in the year and figure out who they are,” Underwood said. “I’ve ran from myself for a long time, I’ve hated myself for a long time. I’m gay. I came to terms with that earlier this year, and the next step in all of this was sort of letting people know. I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life. That means the world to me.”
The former star of ABC’s “The Bachelor” said that he wishes he had accepted his truth sooner. “I’ve had sort of a range of responses and the underlying most common was ‘I wish you would have told me sooner’ and when I hear that I wish I would have had faith in my friends and family a little bit more,” Underwood said.
“The only reason I’m sitting down with you today is because I have the love and support of my friends and my family.”
Underwood starred on season 23 of the popular dating show. He made headlines at the time for being open about remaining a virgin. The Indiana native was named after the Indianapolis Colts, and he played in the NFL for the San Diego Chargers, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Oakland Raiders.
He formerly was in a high-profile relationship with Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman.
During his time on the show he quickly fell in love with contestant Cassie Randolph, who grew up in Walnut Creek and graduated from Berean Christian High School, and following the show’s finale they dated until April 2020.
Around the time the relationship ended, Randolph filed a restraining order against Underwood but eventually she dropped it.
During his interview with Roberts, Underwood said he was sorry for what he put Randolph through. “I got into a place with my personal life that was dark, and bad, and I can list a bunch of different things, but they’d all be excuses,” the 29-year-old said. “I’d like to say sorry for how things ended. I messed up. I made a lot of bad choices.”