- Colton Underwood revealed that he used to hook up only with married men before entering The Bachelorette.
- The former NFL player appeared on The Bachelor in 2019.
- Underwood came out as gay in 202
Colton Underwood has revealed the measures he went to keep his sexual orientation a secret. The former Bachelor star said that he used to “hook up” with married men before he came out as gay in 2021.
In an appearance on the We Need to Talk podcast, Underwood said that he would only experiment with “straight” married men while he was navigating his sexuality. The actions stemmed from his fear that someone would disclose his secret.
Underwood said that he “was very careful” even when he was physically experimenting with men, and that sense of protectiveness extended to the people he chose to be involved with.
“To protect myself, I would only hook up with married men,” the 34-year-old said. "[Married] ‘straight' men. So that was sort of my rule that I would never break. When I was in the closet, that would be the only time I would ever hook up with men was if they were married... because they had more to lose than I did.”
The former NFL player also spoke about being labelled the "Virgin Bachelor” on the dating reality show and how it affected him.
The 34-year-old said that he “hated” the storyline since he “didn't want that pressure, and then I also didn't want people digging in because at that time I had hooked up with men”.
He added that his religious upbringing and his struggles with his sexuality both contributed to his decision to remain a virgin. Underwood said that he also used to convince himself that certain milestones like getting engaged to a girl would somehow change who he was.
The former NFL player starred on the 2018 season of The Bachelorette and became the lead of The Bachelor in 2019.
Two years later, Underwood admitted to Variety that he had “experimented” with men before appearing on The Bachelorette. He emphasised that he was still a virgin when he entered the reality dating show. “When I say ‘hookups,' not sex,” Underwood clarified. “I want to make that very clear that I did not have sex with a man, prior to that,” he added.
Colton Underwood is now married to political strategist Jordan C. Brown-Underwood. The couple share a son, Bishop.
