Now that former “Bachelor” contestant Colton Underwood has scored himself a Netflix reality show after coming out as gay, actor/singer Lance Bass predicts he will get some backlash from the LGBTQ community for “monetizing” his coming out.
Speaking on The Ben & Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast, Bass said a minority in the LGBTQ community will be very upset over how Colton Underwood revealed his sexuality.
“This gay community is very diverse, but we can also be very fickle,” Bass said, as reported by Deadline. “He’s definitely gonna get a lot of backlash from the community at first. Not the majority, but there is a small percentage of the community that’s just gonna not like the fact that he came out this way, that he’s monetizing the experience. They don’t think he deserves this attention and one of those reasons is, and this is what I experienced when I came out… when you first come out, most people have no clue about the LGBT community.”
“They don’t know what the issues are because they’ve been so separated from that on purpose,” he added. “So when someone comes out as a public figure, so many people immediately go, ‘It’s too late.’ They don’t like to support it because they don’t feel like you know what you’re talking about yet. But I don’t think Colton is trying to lead that charge of trying to be the spokesperson for the LGBTQ community.”
Bass did say he felt a small affinity with Underwood’s experience due to the fact that women comprised most of his fanbase when he came out as gay in 2006.
“90% of my fans were women, and they all thought I was straight. I made my money off women and singing about love and using that market. So me coming out, it was scary… cause now everyone is gonna see me as a liar,” he said.
Colton Underwood came out as gay during an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” last week, lamenting how he had been running away from himself for a long time.
“I’ve ran from myself for a long time. I’ve hated myself for a long time,” Underwood said. “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.”
According to Variety, the Netflix show will document Underwood’s life as a gay man.
“The project, which is currently in production, is an unscripted series with multiple episodes, numerous sources tell Variety, describing the project as focusing on Underwood living his life publicly as a gay man,” reported the outlet. “While the full scope of the series is under wraps, an insider tells Variety that Olympian Gus Kenworthy will appear in the series, acting as a guide, of sorts, for Underwood.”
Related: ‘I’m Gay’: Former ‘Bachelor’ Star Colton Underwood Comes Out On ‘Good Morning America’