Colton Underwood: “I’m gay…I get to publicly and outwardly be happy and be me – all of me”

Nervous, but happy to finally be himself and accept himself, Colton Underwood shared with the world today that he is gay. He hid his true self all his life , wanting to be heterosexual, praying for it on the day he found out he was chosen to be the “Bachelor” in 2019, and thinking this was the answer to being happy.

It wasn’t the answer. As Colton told Robin Roberts, who also went through a similar experience of waiting to be her whole self publicly until 2013, coronavirus and the pandemic led him to really look at himself and face and work through his fears. He didn’t know you can be Christian and gay, or be gay and have kids. He heard the term gay used negatively throughout his childhood. Sadly, he said he would rather die than say he was gay. He didn’t know he could be happy being himself. Luckily, he found out how wrong he was…#itgetsbetter.

Colton apologized to his ex-girlfriend who he chose from the “Bachelor”, Cassie:

“I would like to say sorry for how things ended, I messed up I made a lot of bad choices. I loved everything about her, and it’s hard for me to articulate my emotions and going through that relationship with her because I obviously had an internal fight going on. I’m sorry for any pain and emotional stress I caused, I wish it wouldn’t have happened the way it did. I wish I would have been courageous enough to fix myself before I broke anyone else.”

That last line is so expressive. You can really feel what he means.

Colton was nervous in his announcement, but happy for his future and being himself – all of himself, with the support of his family and friends.