The Bachelor alum Colton Underwood's father, Scott Underwood, apparently wishes that his son came out to him as gay in a private manner.

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Colton's new Netflix series about his coming-out journey, Coming Out Colton, began production on November 6, 2020, with Colton telling his family and friends that he's gay five months before publicly announcing the news on Good Morning America in April 2021, The New York Times reported.

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Ahead of Coming Out Colton's premiere on Friday, December 3, Scott opened up about the way in which he learned his former pro-football playing son -- who also starred on The Bachelor's 23rd season -- is gay.

"I'm not saying I'm upset about it, but I would have preferred it had been done differently," Scott told The New York Times, referring to how Colton had told his father he's gay during a fishing trip while cameras were rolling.

But Scott added that his son is "an entertainer, let's face it. That's what he's chosen to do for his career."

Scott apparently doesn't believe that Colton decided to come out so that he could remain in the limelight; however, the disclosure did allow Colton to continue his reality TV career.

"Am I going to say it's for fame?" Scott said. "No. Did he come out on TV for money? Sure. But who in reality entertainment doesn't leverage their life and put it all out there for money?"

Coming Out Colton viewers will apparently see a genuine reaction from Colton's parents, including his mother Donna Burkard, who is divorced from Colton's dad.

Donna reportedly wasn't happy her son had chosen to come out with such a surprising revelation on-camera, but she eventually came to understand and appreciate Colton's alleged motive in doing so.

"We decided if we could help a single family, and hopefully multiple families, by showing the love and support that I believe I displayed, other gay men and women in hiding could see a flicker of hope that their parents are going to respond with open arms," Donna told the newspaper.

Coming Out Colton executive producer Jeff Jenkins confirmed that the Netflix series was initially supposed to be about Colton and Cassie, who fell in love on The Bachelor's 23rd season that aired in 2019.

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When Colton and Cassie announced their split in May 2020 after dating for about 18 months, Jeff said the show's direction pivoted.

Colton, who first came out to his publicist, reportedly met with Jeff to explain how he was considering come out as gay. (Cassie reportedly had no idea Colton was gay until she found out with the rest of the world).

"We saw the positive of him sharing his story," explained Jeff, who also executive produced Caitlyn Jenner's I Am Cait series about the former Olympic athlete fully embracing his transgender identity.

Jeff added of Colton, "He already has fame and -- not to speak out of turn -- but this documentary is not going to make him rich."

A trailer for Coming Out Colton was released on Monday and shows Colton confessing he had put Cassie "through hell" during his coming-out journey.

Colton's dad was shown telling the former pro football player that he "went off the rails," and a friend appeared to scold Colton for how he had treated Cassie, saying, "What you put her through was bullsh-t."

Colton told People that he thought Cassie "could make me straight," which is why he struggled so much to let her go and ultimately got slapped with a restraining order for stalking and harassment in September 2020. (The restraining order was later dropped after Colton said he and Cassie were able to reach an agreement in private that addressed Cassie's concerns).

But Colton is now reportedly dating political strategist Jordan C. Brown, and Cassie moved on with musician Brighton Reinhardt, with whom she reportedly couldn't be happier.

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A source told The New York Post's Page Six earlier this week that Cassie "really just wants to move past any drama having to do with Colton."

"She's being roped back into all this Colton mess because of the Netflix show," the source said.

Cassie is allegedly frustrated her tumultuous history with Colton is going to be rehashed on TV.

"There are a lot of bad memories associated with the end of their relationship and she wishes there was a way to completely separate herself from his narrative," the source explained.

The source added, however, that Cassie supports the LGBTQIA+ community and is glad to hear Colton is genuinely sorry and holding himself accountable for his past behavior.

Colton told GMA in April that he realized he was different at the age of six and came to the conclusion he's gay when he was a freshman in high school.

Colton said he hated himself "for a long time" and was "a miserable person living as a shell of a human being" while pretending to be straight for well over a decade.

Colton even appeared on three seasons of The Bachelor franchise in which he dated women on television: The Bachelorette 14 starring Becca Kufrin, Bachelor in Paradise 5 when he dated Tia Booth, and his own edition of The Bachelor in 2019.

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After coming out as gay on GMA, Colton revealed to Variety he had experimented sexually with men prior to appearing on Becca's season of The Bachelorette in 2018, which preceded his Bachelor in Paradise and The Bachelor stints.

Colton disclosed that he had a few sexual encounters with men when he was in his twenties but never had sex with a man or woman prior to his time on The Bachelor franchise.

"When I say 'hookups,' not sex," confirmed Colton, who had met these men under a false name in 2016 or 2017 through Grindr, a gay dating app. "I want to make that very clear that I did not have sex with a man, prior to that."

Colton said at the time he's "sorry" for "the pain and emotional stress" he had caused Cassie and the other women he dated and misled on The Bachelor, which filmed in late 2018.

"I wish it wouldn't have happened the way it did," Colton acknowledged.

"I wish I would have been courageous enough to fix myself before I broke anybody else... Do I regret handling [The Bachelor] the way that I did? I do. I do think I could've handled it better... I just wish I didn't drag people into my own mess of figuring out who I was."

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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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