While the past year has been difficult for many of us, there are also a lot of people who've now had the time to really sit with themselves and figure some things out about their life in several different areas. It turns out that one of those people is a former star of The Bachelor, Colton Underwood, who recently came out as gay. Now, fans are posting their reactions to the news.
Colton Underwood first really came into the public eye when he appeared as a contestant on Becca Kufrin's season of The Bachelorette in 2018. Colton then went on to lead his own season of The Bachelor the following year, where he was known as "the virgin Bachelor," but in a new interview with Good Morning America's Robin Roberts, he came out as gay, saying that a lot of his virginity was tied to him being conflicted over his sexuality. Bachelor Nation had a lot of support for Colton after his emotional interview, with several noting on Twitter how he must feel after coming to terms with being gay:
During the interview, Colton Underwood talked about several aspects of his childhood and young adulthood which he feels led to him being reluctant, even by the time he was heading up The Bachelor, to admit to himself and others that he was gay. Colton noted that he "just felt different" from the time he was as young as 6, and then, in high school, realized he "was more attracted to the boys and the men." But, he also said that his Catholic upbringing, as well as seeing how so many negative things were referred to as being "gay" held him back.
And, this admission led to a lot of kind words from fans:
During the interview, Roberts did bring up Colton's ex-girlfriend, Cassie Randolph. Fans of The Bachelor will remember that Colton jumped the fence during his season after Cassie broke up with him when she was in the final three. He eventually returned to the shoot, broke up with his two remaining finalists, and went to convince Cassie to give their romance another shot, which she did. Colton now says that he wishes he'd been able to be "courageous enough to fix myself before I broke anybody else," which led one fan to say:
While many fans are purely supportive of Colton and glad he's finally been able to accept himself and be open about it, there are several who are not happy he's been given this platform, but it's not because of his sexuality. A few months after Colton and Cassie announced their breakup in 2020, she filed a restraining order against him and accused him of stalking, harassment and other terrible claims, including putting a tacking device on her car. It wasn't long before she dismissed the restraining order and asked that the investigation be dropped, but many fans haven't forgotten.
Colton freely admits that he has a lot of work to do on himself, and did apologize to Cassie for "any pain and emotional stress" he caused her, also saying that he had a "dark and bad" period before finally being able to admit to himself that he was gay. Luckily, he says he now has the full support of many of his family members and friends, so all we can really hope for is that Colton Underwood continues to grow and learn how to live fully in his truth.
