By David T. Valentin
Taken from @Coltonunderwood on Instagram
Former Bachelor season 23 star, Colton Underwood, has come out as gay, becoming the first bachelor to do so.
In an interview with Good Morning America this Wednesday, he told ABC’s Robin Roberts, “I’ve ran from myself for a long time, I’ve hated myself for a long time. 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.”
But his coming out left fans wondering, why exactly would he go onto the Bachelor, a show where a man, by the end of the show, must choose one of many women as his partner? Looking back at Underwood’s season 23 appearance, many fans feel his uncomfortable and mysterious nature made it obvious. Afterall, he was famously known as the “virgin bachelor,” and even more though he had left the Bachelor with his chosen woman, but, untraditionally, he did not leave the show engaged to her.
Even more interesting is that after Underwood’s first choice woman quit the show, Underwood broke the rules and pursued her.
Underwood confided that he had opened up to a contestant on season 23 after she had opened up about her experience as a sexual assault survivor. Underwood explained, “the thing I realized is that everyone who asks me why I’m a virgin, they expect this simple answer. They want a reason. And my reason is complicated.”
Underwood has gone on to apologize to Randolph, his ex, saying “I’m sorry for any pain and emotional stress I caused. I wish it wouldn’t have happened the way it did. I wish that I would have been courageous enough to fix myself before I broke anybody else.”
When it comes down to it, Underwood put himself in the situation in hopes that he could force himself to be straight. But luckily, he has found acceptance in himself and has found the love from family and friends overwhelming. Now, hopefully, he’ll have a second chance at romance, perhaps for the first ever LGBTQ+ Bachelor season?
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