'Bachelor' alum Colton Unrwood out as gay: 'I'm the happit and healthit I've ever been' | Fox News

Contents:

• COLTON UNRWOOD, ‘BACHELOR’ STAR, COM OUT AS GAY
• THE BACHELOR STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY
• FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY
• 'BACHELOR' ALUM CASSIE RANDOLPH ON HOW SHE 'FOUND OUT' ABOUT EX COLTON UNRWOOD COMG OUT AS GAY
• COLTON UNRWOOD, THE FIRST GAY ‘BACHELOR,’ CONONTS HIS CONTROVERSIAL COMG OUT
• FORMER ‘BACHELOR’ STAR COLTON UNRWOOD: ‘I’M GAY’
• WHICH CONTTANTS ON COLTON UNRWOOD'S SEASON OF THE BACHELOR KNEW HE WAS GAY?
• FORMER "BACHELOR" STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY
• DID THE BACHELOR CONTTANTS KNOW COLTON UNRWOOD WAS GAY DURG FILMG? HANNAH BROWN SPEAKS OUT
• 'BACHELOR' ALUM COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY: 'I'M THE HAPPIT AND HEALTHIT I'VE EVER BEEN'
• COLTON UNRWOOD, FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR, OUT AS GAY
• 'BACHELOR' COLTON UNRWOOD'S GAY REVEAL PLIT HIS PAST — BUT DON'T ERASE
• FORMER ‘BACHELOR’ STAR SAYS HE IS GAY
• COLTON UNRWOOD, FIRST ‘BACHELOR’ STAR TO E OUT AS GAY, SAYS HE WAS BLACKMAILED
• 'THE BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY
• FANS WANT A GAY 'BACHELOR' SEASON WH COLTON UNRWOOD, BUT 'S NOT THE RIGHT MOVE. HERE'S WHY

COLTON UNRWOOD, ‘BACHELOR’ STAR, COM OUT AS GAY

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe 29-year-old former football player had wrten about qutng his sexualy a memoir, published Shotwell/Invisn, via Richard Shotwell, via Invisn, via Associated PrsColton Unrwood, a star of “The Bachelor” and a former football player, me out as gay an terview wh Rob Roberts that aired Wednday on “Good Morng Ameri.

THE BACHELOR STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY

“I would have rather died than say, ‘I’m gay. “‘You know, Colt, we’d still love you and support you if you were gay, ’” he relled his mother tellg father was more nontatnal. “He’d pulled up the history of recent Google search, which clud gay porn s and a variety of qutns: ‘Am I gay?

FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY

)In s 20 years, the anchise has never featured an all-gay st. Ms Randolph then filed for a rtrag orr agast Mr Unrwood, accg him of stalkg her, but she later requted the police vtigatn be source, Getty ImagImage ptn, In The Bachelor, he chose nttant Cassie RandolphMr Unrwood said he cid to e out after the panmic h, addg that was a time which forced people to "look at themselv the mirror and figure out who they are and what they've been nng om or what they've been puttg off their liv" said he had been aware of his sexualy for a long time, knowg he "jt felt different" om the age of Unrwood said he "learned the Bible that gay is a s" Catholic school. Durg his time playg football, he relled the term "gay" held "a nnotatn of negativy".

'BACHELOR' ALUM CASSIE RANDOLPH ON HOW SHE 'FOUND OUT' ABOUT EX COLTON UNRWOOD COMG OUT AS GAY

"I thk there's a lot of thgs, when I look back, I'm like, 'No wonr I held , '" he may also be terted : Media ptn, Kenh Felts has e out as gay at 90 years old... The former Bachelor nttant me out as gay April 2021 and has been attached to Brown sce last fall. Unrwood then me out as gay April 2021 an terview wh Rob Roberts on Good Morng Ameri, and went on to star on Netflix docu-seri Comg Out Colton, tracg Unrwood's own g out journey and teractns wh other notable gay public figur.

He was the first lead of The Bachelor anchise to e out as gay. Related ntent: Former Bachelor Colton Unrwood out as gayStars celebrate newly out Bachelor alum Colton Unrwood: 'You're ee now'Why Comg Out Colton is a major fumble Episo Reps Zach on the season fale of The Bachelor S27 E10 Rep The Bachelor fale rep: Zach go om 'eak-out mo' to pickg a fiancée By Kristen Baldw The Bachelor rep.

COLTON UNRWOOD, THE FIRST GAY ‘BACHELOR,’ CONONTS HIS CONTROVERSIAL COMG OUT

Colton Unrwood is ready to live his former "Bachelor" star me out as gay an exclive terview wh Rob Roberts on "Good Morng Ameri" on Wednday. "When Roberts, who is also openly gay, said she uld "see the joy" and "see the relief" Unrwood, he said he was "emotnal , like such a good, happy, posive way, " and is "the happit and healthit" he's ever been.

Unrwood said he went through a "dark and bad" time before feelg like he uld reveal this about himself and his "wake up ll" was feelg like he "would've rather died" than say he's gay. It took until high school for him to realize he "was more attracted to the boys and the men" than he was the oppose grown up the Catholic church, he remembered he "learned the Bible that gay is a s" Catholic gra school.

FORMER ‘BACHELOR’ STAR COLTON UNRWOOD: ‘I’M GAY’

And durg his time sports, he remembered people g the word "gay" as a term that held "a nnotatn of negativy. Unrwood said he has grown "closer to God" this revelatn and said he knows some people will qutn how that's even possible for a gay man to say. "I ed to wake up the morng and pray for him to take the gay away.

Colton Unrwood publicly g out as gay me as a surprise to his ex-girliend Cassie Randolph. But Randolph eventually revealed how she first disvered the news that Unrwood, 29, is gay after he me out April 2021.

WHICH CONTTANTS ON COLTON UNRWOOD'S SEASON OF THE BACHELOR KNEW HE WAS GAY?

RELATED VIDEO: Cassie Randolph Didn't Know Ex Colton Unrwood Was Gay, Says Source: 'She's Still Procsg'. Former Bachelor Colton Unrwood is openg up much more about his ntroversial g out — and the upg Netflix realy show about , which is movg ahead spe lls for s 29-year-old realy star, who me out as gay on April 14, now adms that had sexual experienc wh men prr to jog The Bachelor anchise 2018 and then pickg Cassie Randolph 2019.

He also said that prr to g out, someone attempted to blackmail him after he vised a gay spa.

Unrwood — who said he ed Grr, a well-known gay datg and hookup app, unr an alias 2016 or 2017 — clarified, “When I say ‘hookups, ’ not sex. ’” the former football player said of his sexual enunters wh men, prevly notg that growg up Catholic the Midwt ma him believe beg gay was a s.

FORMER "BACHELOR" STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY

While 's unclear the exact timele, pre- or post-Randolph spl, he secretly vised a gay spa Los Angel last year “jt to look. ”Unrwood, who said he knew he was different at age 6 and gay durg his hman year high school, also spoke about how his nservative upbrgg sred him to his closeted life. He said he had no gay iends growg up Illois, and certaly no out on on his football team.

DID THE BACHELOR CONTTANTS KNOW COLTON UNRWOOD WAS GAY DURG FILMG? HANNAH BROWN SPEAKS OUT

He relled there beg jt out gay person his town was "the butt of every joke. When his father nonted him after disverg that he viewed gay porn on the puter as an eighth grar, he nied beg gay.

Later, when 2005's Brokeback Mounta me out, he sneakily ed a iend's Blockbter rd to rent the film so his fay wouldn't acce him of beg gay.

“Growg up sports, I was tght that gay is wrong and gay is bad and football players are not gay, ” Unrwood said.

'BACHELOR' ALUM COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY: 'I'M THE HAPPIT AND HEALTHIT I'VE EVER BEEN'

“By the time I realized that I was gay, I didn’t want to be gay. It was easy for me to hi pla sight behd a football mask and huntg and fishg and the thgs that this world tells is ‘mascule’ and ‘manly, '" he said, addg, "I would have done anythg to see a gay football player.

(Sarah Morris / Getty Imag for Baby2Baby) Colton Unrwood won’t be “The Bachelor” much longer: Ls than a year after g out as gay, the former star of the ABC datg show is engaged to polil strategist Jordan C. ”The former NFL player, who said the Netflix doc that he ially “didn’t want to be gay, ” lled 2021 the “most transformative year” of his life. Colton Unrwood didn’t plan on ever tellg the world that he was gay.

COLTON UNRWOOD, FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR, OUT AS GAY

“I’ll jt say , ” Unrwood reveals on a recent afternoon, still adjtg to his new life as an openly gay man. Acrdg to him, last year, while livg Los Angel, he secretly vised a spa known for terg to gay clientele.

At one time, g out of the closet was emed a reer killer, but shows like “The Real World, ” “Survivor” and the origal “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, ” now rebooted on Netflix, led to a profound, posive transformatn how gay people are perceived, and helped brg about progrsive chang to LGBTQ civil rights.

'BACHELOR' COLTON UNRWOOD'S GAY REVEAL PLIT HIS PAST — BUT DON'T ERASE

As new generatns of lennials and Gen Zers have grown up wh LGBTQ iends and role mols, gay Amerins have attaed the right to marry, and queerns has bee more mastream media, as proven shows like HBO’s high school h “Euphoria” and sentially half of the characters the Ryan Murphy universe. His announcement that he was gay cid wh news that he was filmg a Netflix realy show about his new life.

And others legimately argued that as a hunky whe gay man, he was benefg om privilege, takg a platform that other members of the queer muny served more than he did. “I had never seen a football player that had ma to the NFL that had been gay, growg up Catholic. “I’ve had hundreds of gay Christian men and women who are nfed their walk wh J say, ‘I felt closer to God when I me out.

FORMER ‘BACHELOR’ STAR SAYS HE IS GAY

“I never want people to thk that I’m g out to change the narrative, or to bsh over and not take rponsibily for my actns, and now that I have this gay life that I don’t have to addrs my past as a straight man, ” Unrwood says. Cled to ment for this story, or answer qutns about whether there have been discsns about velopg a gay season of “The Bachelor.

Realy TV has the power to change mds, showsg unrreprented muni to sectns of the untry who might not e across gay, bisexual or transgenr people their everyday liv. The number of high-profile gay love stori at the movi — among them, the Hulu romantic edy “Happit Season” and 2017 Sundance darlg “Call Me by Your Name” — remas small. It’s rare to see a full-fledged gay love story, or hts of gay romance, on a realy TV show.

COLTON UNRWOOD, FIRST ‘BACHELOR’ STAR TO E OUT AS GAY, SAYS HE WAS BLACKMAILED

When Lance Bass, who is openly gay, appeared on the program 2008, he was paired wh a female partner. Unrwood’s faced mons as a closeted gay man.

For Unrwood, growg up Washgton, Ill., wh a populatn of 15, 000, there were no gay role mols. “We had one gay person my entire town, ” Unrwood says. Though he felt that he was different at the age of 6, Unrwood never got the chance to teract wh gay people.

“I would have done anythg to see a gay football player, ” he says, gettg choked up. He ed a iend’s Blockbter rd to rent the movie, so that no one his fay would spect him of beg gay. “Gay porn was sort of what I gravated towards, ” Unrwood adms, clenchg his jaw.

'THE BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY

At the time, Unrwood nied beg gay to his father. He remembers that when Michael Sam beme the first openly gay player drafted by the NFL 2014, no one the locker room supported the ia.

Their homophobia only drove him eper to the closet. “Growg up sports, I was tght that gay is wrong and gay is bad and football players are not gay, ” Unrwood says.

FANS WANT A GAY 'BACHELOR' SEASON WH COLTON UNRWOOD, BUT 'S NOT THE RIGHT MOVE. HERE'S WHY

But producers have ma sure not to jt foc on whe privileged gay men. In the seri, Unrwood will explore his posn of privilege, partly thanks to Kenworthy, who is featured by his si as someone who n relate to Unrwood’s experience, as a gay athlete who me out the spotlight. “He’s been somebody that I’ve not only learned so much om, but he’s held me acuntable and he’s allowed me to see the privilege of beg a straight-prentg gay, whe man, ” Unrwood says of Kenworthy.

“Here he is, a cisgenr whe man who out as gay, and he gets a show, ” says Garcia. He wish his son wouldn’t live his entire life the public eye, but he se the impact his Netflix seri may have on fai who abandon their children for beg gay. “My dad is proud to say that he is a nservative Republin, and he is also proud to say, I have a gay son, ” Unrwood says.

Former 'Bachelor' star says he is gay.