[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Colton Underwood opened up some more about his coming out journey.
As you may recall, the 29-year-old reality star announced his sexuality to the world during a Good Morning America interview last month after taking some time to reflect on his life.
“[The pandemic] probably made a lot of people look 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. And, for me, I’ve ran from myself for a long time — I’ve hated myself for a long time. I’m gay, and I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it.”
Related: The Bachelorette‘s Kaitlyn Bristowe Is Engaged To Jason Tartick!
Now, the Bachelor lead has revealed he did not entirely come out on his terms. In an interview with Variety, Colton confessed he visited a spa for gay men “just to look.” But shortly afterwards, the former athlete received an email from an anonymous person claiming to have taken nude pics of him and threatened to release them to the press.
However, he said “nobody knows’ of the efforts other than his publicist, who Colton immediately forwarded the email to when it popped up in his inbox last year. Still, the situation made Underwood feel scared. Unfortunately, it got so bad at one point that the Indiana native noted how he took a ton of pills and attempted suicide last summer:
“I tried to end my life, and it didn’t work. That was the saddest and most confused and most hurt [feeling].”
Wow…
Elsewhere in the interview, the TV personality further spilled on how he has hooked up but has not had sex with men in the past. He also admitted to having Grindr account before joining Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette, saying:
“I remember feeling so guilty, like ‘What the hell am I doing?’ It was my first time letting myself even go there, so much so that I was like, ‘I need The Bachelorette in my life, so I could be straight.’”
As fans may know, Colton had been marketed as the “virgin Bachelor” for his season of the ABC dating series — so a lot of people had some questions about his past sexual experiences.
Underwood also took the time to clear the air about his relationship with ex-girlfriend Cassie Randolph. The pair broke up in 2020, but the 26-year-old later took out a restraining order against the football player for allegedly stalking and placing a tracking device on her car. Speaking on the situation, Colton said he “did not physically touch or physically abuse Cassie in any way, shape, or form.” He further explained:
“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.”
The star continued to explain how he had been in such a “dark” place after their split but sort of recognized how the whole ordeal should not have happened:
“It’s not who I am as a human being, and it’s not how I carry myself. If there was anything I could do to take more ownership, I would. But also, out of respect to her, I don’t want to get into the details. I want this interview to be the last time I address her, because 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.”
Unfortunately, that is all he could say about the situation due to a joint agreement the exes had made. But man oh man, so much to unpack from this interview! What are your thoughts on Colton’s new conversation about his coming out story? Let us know in the comments (below). And if you would like to, you can read the full article HERE.
[Image via Judy Eddy/WENN]
The post Colton Underwood Talks Being On Grindr Pre-<i>Bachelorette</i> And How He Was Blackmailed Before Coming Out! appeared first on Perez Hilton.
