In an interview with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts, the former Bachelor star Colton Underwood announced that he was gay.
“Colton Underwood is ready to live his truth,” Good Morning America reported.
“I’ve ran from myself for a long time. I’ve hated myself for a long time,” Underwood told Roberts during their interview. “And I’m gay. And 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,” he added. “It’s been a journey for sure.”
JUST IN: Former “Bachelor” star @Colton Underwood speaks his truth and comes out to @robinroberts: “I’m gay. And I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it… I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life.” https://t.co/PoYJUAPBpA pic.twitter.com/isP7SptUu7
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 14, 2021
Underwood continued to say that the tumultuous impact of 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic made people “look at themselves in the mirror and figure out who they are and what they’ve been running from or what they’ve been putting off in their lives.”
Roberts said that she could “see the joy” and “see the relief” in Underwood during the interview, after which the former Bachelor star said he was “emotional in, like such a good, happy, positive way” and is “the happiest and healthiest” he’s ever been.
Later, he spoke of the “dark and bad” time he experienced.
“There was a moment in L.A. that I woke up and I didn’t think I was gonna wake up. I didn’t have the intentions of waking up. And I did,” he said.
On the subject of whether the female contestants during his season of “The Bachelor” may have felt misled in some way, Underwood responded, “I’ve thought a lot about this too, of, ‘Do I regret being the Bachelor and do I regret handling it the way that I did?’ I do.”
“I do think I could’ve handled it better, I’ll say that,” he added.
Roberts later asked Underwood if he had any advice for those struggling to “come out.”
“But if I had to go back and give anybody advice, I mean, you’re gonna get through it is what I would tell myself,” he answered. “Keep fighting for you. Keep choosing you every morning. And when the time’s ready or when the time’s right and you’re ready, do it on your own time.”
“Underwood was then the lead of season 23 of ‘The Bachelor’ in 2019, with his virginity being a frequent topic of conversation and his famous fence-jumping moment being one of the franchise’s most dramatic moments,” Good Morning America reported. “He gave his final rose to contestant Cassie Randolph but ultimately chose to not propose to her, though they later told ‘GMA’ they had discussed an engagement.”
“The two dated after the show wrapped until announcing their breakup in early 2020. They later made headlines when Randolph was granted a restraining order against Underwood, accusing him of stalking and harassing her. In a police report, she accused him of putting a tracking device on her car. Underwood later released a statement explaining that he and Randolph had resolved their issues in private. She later dismissed the restraining order and requested the police investigation be dropped,” the report continued.
“The Bachelor” was the center of another media storm earlier this year after the long-running series became embroiled in a supposed scandal regarding comments made regarding “cancel culture” and the past behavior of a contestant.
“’The Bachelor’ host Chris Harrison has issued a formal apology for ‘perpetuating racism’ after he requested that a Bachelor contestant be given ‘grace’ and allowed to explain her attendance at a 2018 party with an ‘antebellum’ theme,’” reported The Daily Wire in February. It was later announced that Harrison would not host the next season of “The Bachelorette.”