'Bachelor' Colton Unrwood's gay reveal plit his past — but don't erase

Contents:

• COLTON UNRWOOD, ‘BACHELOR’ STAR, COM OUT AS GAY
• COLTON UNRWOOD, THE FIRST GAY ‘BACHELOR,’ CONONTS HIS CONTROVERSIAL COMG OUT
• FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY
• 'THE BACHELOR' HAS A TROUBLED HISTORY WHEN TO GAY ROMANCE. IT'S NOT ALONE
• ‘BACHELOR’ FANS MAND GAY SEASON AMID COLTON UNRWOOD’S G OUT
• 'BACHELOR' COLTON UNRWOOD'S GAY REVEAL PLIT HIS PAST — BUT DON'T ERASE
• FORMER "BACHELOR" STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY
• FORMER ‘BACHELOR’ STAR SAYS HE IS GAY

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. And I’m 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?

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

How do you know if you’re gay?

FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY

)In s 20 years, the anchise has never featured an all-gay st. Colton Unrwood didn’t plan on ever tellg the world that he was 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.

'THE BACHELOR' HAS A TROUBLED HISTORY WHEN TO GAY ROMANCE. IT'S NOT ALONE

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. A gay “Bachelor, ” though? 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. “If you’re gay, be gay! “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. “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.

‘BACHELOR’ FANS MAND GAY SEASON AMID COLTON UNRWOOD’S G OUT

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.

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

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.

FORMER "BACHELOR" STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY

At the time, Unrwood nied beg gay to his father.

FORMER ‘BACHELOR’ STAR SAYS HE IS GAY

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. “By the time I realized that I was gay, I didn’t want to be gay. ’” Unrwood says of his gay enunters.