Colton Underwood, an NFL player, starred on the Bachelor in 2019, where he dated 30 women, before giving the final rose to his now ex-girlfriend, Cassie Randolph. The 29 year-old’s interview with Good Morning America was recently aired, and Underwood came out as a gay man.
In the interview with Robin Roberts of Good Morning America, Underwood said, “I’ve ran from myself for a long time; I’ve hated myself for a long time. The next step in all of this is letting people know. I’m still nervous… It’s been a journey for sure. I’m emotional in such a good, happy, positive way. I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life and that means the world to me.”
JUST IN: Former “Bachelor” star @Colton Underwood speaks his truth and comes out to @robinroberts: “I’m gay. And I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it… I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life.” https://t.co/PoYJUAPBpA pic.twitter.com/isP7SptUu7
— Good Morning America (@GMA) April 14, 2021
The Internet Lends Support
Many were surprised by the news, since Underwood became one of the show’s most famous Bachelors and heart throbs. Overall, there was an immense amount of support that came flooding in for the NFL star in the form of tweets.
Schitt’s Creek writer and director, Dan Levy, shared his support in a tweet saying, ““Coming out” can be a terrifying, uncomfortable, and traumatizing experience because we still live in a world where we are made to fear the consequences of living freely. Let that sink in. So happy for @colton Underwood. His courage will undoubtably save lives today.”
https://twitter.com/danjlevy/status/1382357724197912582?s=20
Andrew shared his support, tweeting out, “Congratulations in coming out and being your true self Colton Underwood I’m so proud of you.”
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Congratulations in coming out and being your true self Colton Underwood I'm so proud of you❤❤❤❤❤????????????????????
— Andrew Gugumuck (@andrew_gugumuck) April 14, 2021
Mixed Emotions
While Colton Underwood received support for coming out, many people are taking this time to recall Underwood’s dark past of harassment against his ex, Cassie Randolph. Randolph had to put a restraining order, now dropped, against the bachelor after he putting a tracking device on her car, stalking her and harassing her family and friends in regards to her whereabouts. Coming out is never simple, but many are worried that his coming out is over-powering his record of abuse and manipulation.
Alisha Grauso on Twitter shared her thoughts on the experience, writing, “Good for Colton Underwood for coming out – but I see the media is just going to pretend that restraining order for stalking his ex and putting a tracking device on her car never happened, huh? A hard, emotionally fraught time is never an excuse for abuse or stalking.”
Good for Colton Underwood for coming out – but I see the media is just going to pretend that restraining order for stalking his ex and putting a tracking device on her car never happened, huh? A hard, emotionally fraught time is never an excuse for abuse or stalking.
— Alisha Grauso (@AlishaGrauso) April 14, 2021
Genevieve tweeted, “everybody deserves to live their truth, so anybody coming out is something I fully support. however, colton underwood is an abuser and should not be given a platform. there are so many deserving LGBT+ folks who should have this opportunity instead. my heart aches for cassie.”
everybody deserves to live their truth, so anybody coming out is something I fully support. however, colton underwood is an abuser and should not be given a platform. there are so many deserving LGBT+ folks who should have this opportunity instead. my heart aches for cassie.
— genevieve (@gen_evieve1) April 14, 2021
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Bella Asali tweeted out, “Lol good for Colton Underwood for coming out but he still stalked his ex girlfriend and put a tracking device on her car?!?! Like coming out doesn’t excuse bad behavior?!?”
Lol good for Colton Underwood for coming out but he still stalked his ex girlfriend and put a tracking device on her car?!?! Like coming out doesn’t excuse bad behavior?!?
— Bella Asali (@bellaasali) April 14, 2021
Sahana wrote, “!!HEY!! while it’s great for Colton underwood that he came out as gay let’s not forget that he literally stalked Cassie Randolph after they broke up and put a tracking device in her car. Him coming out doesn’t cancel out his creepy and manipulative behavior. Thanks for ur time bye.”
‼️HEY‼️while it’s great for Colton underwood that he came out as gay let’s not forget that he literally stalked Cassie Randolph after they broke up and put a tracking device in her car. Him coming out doesn’t cancel out his creepy and manipulative behavior. Thanks for ur time bye
— Sahana (@sahanagopal) April 14, 2021
Ella tweeted this piece saying, “I’m glad that Colton Underwood finally feels comfortable coming out, but I’m not about to forget he harassed and stalked his ex-girlfriend and she had to take out a restraining order against him. Him being gay doesn’t negate his history of abusing.”
I'm glad that Colton Underwood finally feels comfortable coming out, but I'm not about to forget he harassed and stalked his ex-girlfriend and she had to take out a restraining order against him.
Him being gay doesn't negate his history of abusing women.
— ella dawson (@brosandprose) April 14, 2021
New Show
As Colton Underwood came out on national television today, it was also announced a new show surrounding being gay and his journey to coming out, which as you can imagine, also stirred a lot of controversy as well. People seem to think that coming out was a publicity stunt for his new television show that is set to come out on Netflix. Gus Kenworth, a openly gay Olympian, is apparently going to be Underwood’s “gay guide,” on the docu-series.
We are happy that Underwood felt ready, at his own time, to reveal his sexuality to the world. But we also want this to be a time of reflection on the harassment inflicted on Cassie Randolph.
