Colton Unrwood, former 'Bachelor' star, says he's gay | CNN

Contents:

• COLTON UNRWOOD, THE FIRST GAY ‘BACHELOR,’ CONONTS HIS CONTROVERSIAL COMG OUT
• COLTON UNRWOOD SAYS HE ISN’T 100% GAY
• DID COLTON UNRWOOD KNOW HE WAS GAY WHEN HE WENT ON THE BACHELOR?
• DID THE BACHELOR CONTTANTS KNOW COLTON UNRWOOD WAS GAY DURG FILMG? HANNAH BROWN SPEAKS OUT
• COLTON UNRWOOD SAYS ‘THE BACHELOR’ HELPED HIM REALIZE HE’S NOT GAY
• FORMER ‘BACHELOR’ STAR COLTON UNRWOOD: ‘I’M GAY’
• COLTON UNRWOOD REGRETS NOT COMG OUT AFTER SEEG MICHAEL SAM BEE FIRST OPENLY GAY NFL PLAYER
• OPEN MENUVIOSHOPWELLNSFOODCULTUREFAYLIVGSTYLETRAVELNEWSBOOK CLUBGMA3: WYNTKNEWSLETTERLOG INPRIVACY POLICY — YOUR US STATE PRIVACY RIGHTS — CHILDREN'S ONLE PRIVACY POLICY — INTERT-BASED ADS — TERMS OF USE — DO NOT SELL MY INFO — CONTACT USCOPYRIGHT © 2023 ABC NEWS INTER VENTUR. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.SEARCH40 BOX: SAVE 25% ON LAKI NATURALS BATH SOAKS, SCBS AND MORECULTURETHE BACHELORAPRIL 14, 2021FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY
• COLTON UNRWOOD, FIRST ‘BACHELOR’ STAR TO E OUT AS GAY, SAYS HE WAS BLACKMAILED
• COLTON UNRWOOD REGRETS NOT JOG FIRST OPENLY GAY NFL PLAYER
• COLTON UNRWOOD, FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR, OUT AS GAY
• COLTON UNRWOOD, ‘BACHELOR’ STAR, COM OUT AS GAY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ACH OUT AS GAY
• COLTON UNRWOOD REVEALS HATEFUL MENTS HE’S RECEIVED SCE G OUT AS GAY
• BACHELOR PARADISE’S DEMI BURT SLAMMED FOR MAKG JOKE ABOUT COLTON UNRWOOD G OUT AS GAY ON NEW EPISO
• OMG COLTON UNRWOOD IS GAY! WHO KNEW?
• ‘I DIDN’T WANT TO BE GAY,’ COLTON UNRWOOD SAYS NEW ‘COMG OUT COLTON’ TRAILER
• CASSIE RANDOLPH SHAR ‘HORRIBLE’ WAY SHE FOUND OUT EX COLTON UNRWOOD IS GAY
• BACHELOR COLTON UNRWOOD ADMS HE DIDN’T TELL EX CASSIE RANDOLPH HE IS GAY TO ‘TRY TO HOLD ON TO BEG STRAIGHT’
• 'THE BACHELOR' 'S COLTON UNRWOOD COM OUT AS GAY: 'I'VE RAN OM MYSELF FOR A LONG TIME'
• 'BACHELOR' ALUM COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY: 'I'M THE HAPPIT AND HEALTHIT I'VE EVER BEEN'
• PEOPLE N INTIFY WHETHER A MAN IS GAY OR STRAIGHT BY THEIR VOICE. BISEXUALS? NOT SO MUCH
• COLTON UNRWOOD ADDRS BACKLASH AFTER COMG OUT AS GAY
• ‘IF YOU’RE GAY, BE GAY’: BILLY EICHNER REACTS TO THAT VIRAL COLTON UNRWOOD VIO
• CASSIE RANDOLPH IS ‘STILL PROCSG’ EX COLTON UNRWOOD COMG OUT AS GAY: ‘SHE WAS NOT MA AWARE’

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

In an April 2021 Good Morng Ameri terview wh Rob Roberts, Colton Unrwood — known as the "virg Bachelor" durg his time on the ABC realy TV anchise, which 30 women peted for his affectns — revealed that he is gay.

Homophobic jok and slurs were enabled by his ach the locker room, he Comg Out Colton, that nservative upbrgg adds to the element of surprise: If an episo ends wh Unrwood havg jt told a loved one about his sexualy, the viewer has to watch the next episo to fd out how they react, knowg that might not be a favourable rponse. 'A certa amount of privilege'Much of Unrwood's stggle wh his sexualy stems om his background as a profsnal athlete and the fear of beg outed as gay among unwelg teammat and ach. ""I have had sex and J still lov me": navigatg sex and moraly on The BacheloretteThe seri rporat the experienc of other profsnal athlet who are openly gay.

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.

COLTON UNRWOOD SAYS HE ISN’T 100% GAY

”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. 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.

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. 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.

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 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. 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.

DID COLTON UNRWOOD KNOW HE WAS GAY WHEN HE WENT ON THE BACHELOR?

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. 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.

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

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. Former Bachelor star Colton Unrwood — who me out as gay earlier this year and now stars his own Netflix realy show, Comg Out Colton — has been speakg out agast anti-LGBTQ Christians who tell him his fah and his sexualy don’t mix. Two years after his season of The Bachelor aired on ABC, former realy star Colton Unrwood has e forward to set the rerd straight about his sexualy, g out to Good Morng Ameri‘s Rob Roberts (and her natnal dience) on Wednday morng as a gay man who’d only recently e to terms wh his inty.

As he starts to open up about the procs of g out to fay and iends, many are cur at exactly what pot Unrwood had the realizatn that he might be gay — specifilly, whether or not that realizatn happened before he went on The Bachelor. As anyone wh knowledge of the procs of g out n attt, there is no one light-swch moment of homosexualy that n be poted to, after which Unrwood is tegorilly brand a liar any time he may have dited otherwise.

COLTON UNRWOOD SAYS ‘THE BACHELOR’ HELPED HIM REALIZE HE’S NOT GAY

Raised a vout Christian home and gog on to bee a pro football player, he was surround throughout his life by homophobic rhetoric and toxic ias about masculy that told him he uldn’t be a man and have a good life while feelg the way he felt.

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

I had ma mistak my sports and my athletic reer, and when you make mistak, ‘that play was gay’ or that was a bad… gay was always affiliated wh a nnotatn of negativy, and I thk there’s a lot of thgs when I look back, like, ‘No wonr I held . The fact that we’ve prevly had such personal accs to Unrwood’s life will make people eager to revis our history wh him, and see how might be rewrten through our new unrstandg of him as a gay man. Unrwood is not the first gay Bachelor — or rather, lookg at him as the first gay Bachelor would be an entirely unproductive thg to do, given that he me on the show out of pure termatn for that not to be his fate.

COLTON UNRWOOD REGRETS NOT COMG OUT AFTER SEEG MICHAEL SAM BEE FIRST OPENLY GAY NFL PLAYER

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. 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.

Along wh beg lled a liar by some fellow Bachelor Natn alumni, he and the women who dated him have also had to aga face qutns about whether they knew Unrwood was gay when he was datg dozens of women simultaneoly on The Bachelor. But all mak so much more sense wh jt who he was and the Brown ma a good pot sayg any lack of spark between Colton Unrwood and his nttants didn't tomatilly mean he was gay, jt that he wasn't what they expected, nor a good romantic match.

I thk ’s really ol that he’s fally beg able to, for the first time, be himself, which is weird that I’m sayg that bee I dated him and he was gay the whole time.

OPEN MENUVIOSHOPWELLNSFOODCULTUREFAYLIVGSTYLETRAVELNEWSBOOK CLUBGMA3: WYNTKNEWSLETTERLOG INPRIVACY POLICY — YOUR US STATE PRIVACY RIGHTS — CHILDREN'S ONLE PRIVACY POLICY — INTERT-BASED ADS — TERMS OF USE — DO NOT SELL MY INFO — CONTACT USCOPYRIGHT © 2023 ABC NEWS INTER VENTUR. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.SEARCH40 BOX: SAVE 25% ON LAKI NATURALS BATH SOAKS, SCBS AND MORECULTURETHE BACHELORAPRIL 14, 2021FORMER 'BACHELOR' STAR COLTON UNRWOOD OUT AS GAY

In his new memoir, “The First Time: Fdg Myself and Lookg for Love on Realy TV, ” Unrwood, the first virg Bachelor, opens up about his nfn over his sexualy, as he had spent much of his youth qutng whether he was gay — somethg he didn’t have clary on until “The Bachelor. I was stuck a hyper-mascule culture wh football, growg up a fah-based fay and walkg wh God, and that sayg, ‘Hey, I n’t walk wh God and be gay.

“[The show] helped me nont that feelg bee you guys probably didn’t pay attentn to as much as I did, but even when I was announced [as the Bachelor] or even people said I was a virg, there were headl sayg I was gay, sayg I was closeted, sayg that I’m dog this for attentn, ” he said.

“Even now, I still battle gay mors when I’m wh Cassie, but that’s how was for me as a young kid gra school and high school, and I n al wh them now.

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

When Michael Sam me out as gay 2014, beg the first-ever openly gay football player to be drafted by an NFL team, Colton Unrwood fally saw an opportuny to be his te self.

COLTON UNRWOOD REGRETS NOT JOG FIRST OPENLY GAY NFL PLAYER

Unrwood — who spoke to Variety a wi-rangg terview for this week’s ver story — me out as gay last month durg an terview on “Good Morng Ameri” wh Rob Roberts. But that’s the whole pot of g out, so that I didn’t have to jt view beg gay as pleasure, and I uld experience love and the fullns of everythg that I want out of a relatnship.

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

"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.

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

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.

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. Unrwood nfirmed to Variety that he has a Netflix seri the works about his g-out journey, wh fellow gay athlete G Kenworthy actg as his ially praised for his cisn to e out, Unrwood, 29, has weathered his fair share of ntroversy, cludg allegatns of appearg as a nttant on “The Bachelorette, ” he was st “Bachelor Paradise” (both 2018), where he had a flg wh fellow nttant Tia Booth. He also received support, cludg om celebri such as Billy Eichner, who had prevly told him durg a gut appearance on “The Bachelor”: “Maybe you’re the first gay Bachelor, and we don’t even know.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ACH OUT AS 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 said.

Lebacker, who ma hearts flutter two years ago as the virgal leadg man on ABC’s aggrsively heterosexual h datg anchise “The Bachelor, ” said the no-gog-back words “I’m gay.

COLTON UNRWOOD REVEALS HATEFUL MENTS HE’S RECEIVED SCE G OUT AS GAY

The seri, which started filmg before his “Good Morng Ameri” appearance, is a heartfelt but refully packaged diary, which Unrwood reveals his sexual orientatn to unspectg fay members, iends and others, and gets a crash urse gay. Compared to Unrwood, Kenworthy is a gay sage: He teach Unrwood what cisgenr means (“cis means that your genr that you intify wh is the same as the genr you were assigned at birth, ” he explas one scene) and ss wh Unrwood for a history lson at the Stonewall executive producer on the seri, Unrwood knows he has privilege and a platform, which is why he said he sought unsel om people who aren’t whe gay cisgenr men, cludg Nile Garcia, a transgenr Lata pastor. In an email, Garcia said Unrwood uld be a role mol, pecially to let young athlet know they “n be male, athletic, gay and be succsful, loved and rpected.

”This beg realy TV, Unrwood didn’t prepare the people he out to on mera — what we see, he said, is their genue reactn to the news that he is gay.

BACHELOR PARADISE’S DEMI BURT SLAMMED FOR MAKG JOKE ABOUT COLTON UNRWOOD G OUT AS GAY ON NEW EPISO

“We cid if we uld help a sgle fay, and hopefully multiple fai, by showg the love and support that I believe I displayed, other gay men and women hidg uld see a flicker of hope that their parents are gog to rpond wh open arms, ” she said a phone terview. Unrwood said his hand had been forced bee, as he also told Variety, he got an anonymo email last year om someone who claimed to have nu photos of him at a spa known for a gay clientele. “The easit way for me to say is that was like me brgg a girl home, ” Unrwood said, blhg and soundg like someone who really is new to this whole gay thg.

And I’m gay, and I me to terms wh that earlier this year, and I’ve been procsg and the next step all of this was sort of lettg people know, " Unrwood, 29, told Roberts.

OMG COLTON UNRWOOD IS GAY! WHO KNEW?

In an terview wh Entertament Tonight last year, he said that "The Bachelor" helped him realize that he was not gay, after stgglg wh his sexualy. And a book he published 2020, "The First Time: Fdg Myself and Lookg for Love on Realy TV, " he revealed that growg up, people would qutn whether he was gay, sce he was a virg and a football player.

"He said his Catholic upbrgg and athletic life ma him supprs his sexualy, even though he knew he was gay his hman year of high now, Unrwood said he is closer to God than ever before. 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.

‘I DIDN’T WANT TO BE GAY,’ COLTON UNRWOOD SAYS NEW ‘COMG OUT COLTON’ TRAILER

Manch says cisn on third-party printial bid g ’next year’05:08Sunscreen misrmatn spreadg onle02:37Suici lifele seeg rerd numbers one year after lnch04:04Former Tunisian soccer player found not guilty of nspirg wh B Lan02:34WHO says aspartame sweetener is possible ncer risk03:25Now PlaygJacksonville Jaguars ach out as gay03:01UP NEXTGlobal warmg fuels massive heat dom across the world03:58Alabama pass redistrictg map that fi Supreme Court lg03:02NFL f Commanrs’ owner Dan Snyr $60M after allegatns of workplace misnduct03:17New CDC director discs handlg distst agency06:00Maryland island se rise homebuyers spe risg sea level threats04:18. Not 24 hours after his tell-all terview wh Rob Roberts, Netflix announced that out gay Olympian G Kenworthy would jo Unrwood a Netflix seri documentg his life as a gay man and his g out experience. You may be able to fd the same ntent another format, or you may be able to fd more rmatn, at their web was a hunch I had then, and somethg nfirmed upon watchg: The problem wh Comg Out Colton is not his clumsy reveal of his sexualy— fact, that's what I liked most about his journey—or even his clear apprehensn that this "new gay life" will divorce him of his heteronormative fantasy (children, marriage, makg out strictly for The Right Reasons™) but that the seri seems sperate to wrg every last drop of drama out of a relatively tame story.

In addn to his terview on Good Morng Ameri, the 29-year-old thor is the middle of filmg a Netflix realy show about his life as a now-openly gay man.

Colton Unrwood adms he mistreated his ex-girliend Cassie Randolph his upg Netflix seri, “Comg Out Colton” — which foc on his experience g out as gay.

CASSIE RANDOLPH SHAR ‘HORRIBLE’ WAY SHE FOUND OUT EX COLTON UNRWOOD IS GAY

"Demi’s ment on Colton beg gay seemed a ltle b like a dig and as the only other out lgbt+ person bachelor Natn, you’d thk she’d be a b more sensive but she seems to be exprsg some light ternalized homophobia this episo. Now the qutn be do he go the Aaron Schock/G Kenworthy route and bee a circu queen/Instaho or do he follow the steps of athlet like Michael Sam and Jason Colls and live a pretty private of urse the qutn we are all cur about--has he acted on his gay attractn yet and if so, wh who?

BACHELOR COLTON UNRWOOD ADMS HE DIDN’T TELL EX CASSIE RANDOLPH HE IS GAY TO ‘TRY TO HOLD ON TO BEG STRAIGHT’

TMZ has learned the former 'Bachelor' star has had a film crew followg him for the past few weeks, and the show -- focg on his life as a gay man -- will air on 're told several other proment members of the LBGTQ+ muny have been Colton's rner throughout this procs -- such as his iend, Olympian G Kenworthy -- and will make appearanc alongsi him the seri. His new journey's beg shot for a realy I posted my thoughts on Op's post whout readg that far down I was gog to say this is all scripted drama to ph some new gay realy show.

[Quote] Now the qutn be do he go the Aaron Schock/G Kenworthy route and bee a circu queen/Instaho or do he follow the steps of athlet like Michael Sam and Jason Colls and live a pretty private, Netflix is filmg his life as an out gay Anonymoreply 91April 14, 2021 5:02 PM. But here's probably my biggt qutn: He's beg praised today for g out as gay, and yet there was a story or a book (I don't know which) about him publicly qutng his sexualy last March of 2020? ”“When I was ‘The Bachelor, ’ everyone was like, ‘Oh, he’s a virg Bachelor, well, he has to be gay, ’” Unrwood told The Tim a March 2020 terview to promote the book.

“I didn’t want to be gay, ” Unrwood says Monday’s trailer, “and the ma voic my head were jt tellg me, ‘You’ll get through this, you’ll get through this.

'THE BACHELOR' 'S COLTON UNRWOOD COM OUT AS GAY: 'I'VE RAN OM MYSELF FOR A LONG TIME'

The doceri' central figure addrs how the homophobia his high school locker room ntributed to the shame and fear that led him to keep his sexual orientatn a secret. Durg s send episo, tled "Football, " Unrwood speaks wh gay athlet and viss his high school ach to discs the toxicy and homophobia he experienced the locker room.

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

As a member of the same draft class, Unrwood remembers Sam beg the first openly gay football player to be drafted the NFL and seeg the backlash he faced real time.

" After he tails the homophobia he wnsed the locker room, explag that this stage his life was when he cid to do everythg he uld to keep his sexual orientatn a secret, Unrwood's nversatn wh his ach basilly to a close. Before Unrwood was the fence-jumpg virg who had a post-realy-seri breakdown, he was a gay kid a locker room who jt wanted to play the game well. Related ntent: Atralian pro soccer player Josh Cavallo publicly out: 'I'm proud to be gay'Stars celebrate newly out Bachelor alum Colton UnrwoodThe Bachelorette Atralia sts first openly bisexual lead.

PEOPLE N INTIFY WHETHER A MAN IS GAY OR STRAIGHT BY THEIR VOICE. BISEXUALS? NOT SO MUCH

Unrwood explaed that he went to a gay spa Los Angel “jt to look, ” and afterward received an anonymo email threateng to leak nu photos om the vis.

After tellg Rob Roberts his GMA terview that he had suicidal thoughts ahead of g out as gay, Unrwood further revealed to Variety that he attempted suici summer 2020.

COLTON UNRWOOD ADDRS BACKLASH AFTER COMG OUT AS GAY

And for me, I've ran om myself for a long time, I've hated myself for a long time, and I'm gay, " Unrwood TV star said was his down time spent durg the ronavis panmic that helped him procs his tth. Scientists hypothized that bisexual men’s voic might be nsired more feme-soundg than straight men’s and more mascule-soundg than gay men’s when me to self-reported and observer-reported masculy and femy.

‘IF YOU’RE GAY, BE GAY’: BILLY EICHNER REACTS TO THAT VIRAL COLTON UNRWOOD VIO

One hundred sixty participants, divid evenly between men and women, were asked to listen to voice sampl om 60 men (divid evenly between gay, bisexual, and straight men).

CASSIE RANDOLPH IS ‘STILL PROCSG’ EX COLTON UNRWOOD COMG OUT AS GAY: ‘SHE WAS NOT MA AWARE’

Rearch to bisexualy has lagged due to “bisexual erasure, ” the tenncy to overlook the largt segment of the LGBTQ+ muny favor of gay or straight men.

The four-part te crime seri, now streamg, foc on four victims, gay men the 1990s, who were murred, dismembered, their remas found garbage bags along a New Jersey highway. Adapted om an Edgar-wng 2021 book also lled “Last Call” by director Anthony Caronna and producer Howard Gertler, what ultimately emerg is an unsttg portra of the vlence done not jt to a gay quartet but to gays, lbians, trans people general.