Colton Underwood / Instagram

'The Bachelor' star Colton Underwood: I was blackmailed by someone who threatened to "out" me as gay

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 05/12/2021

The Bachelor star Colton Underwood has revealed he was blackmailed by a person threatening to out him as gay while he was still in the closet and guarding his long-kept secret.

Colton, who announced his split from The Bachelor Season 23 winner Cassie Randolph after 18 months of dating in May 2020, officially came out as a gay man on the April 14 episode of Good Morning America.

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Colton said he realized he was different at the age of six and came to the conclusion he's gay in his early teens; however, he hid his sexuality and pretended to be straight for well over a decade -- until he disclosed he's gay to his publicist due to a scandal that was happening in his life, Variety reported.

The 29-year-old former NFL player told Variety that he admitted his sexual preference to his publicist, Alex Spieller, a year ago out of fear.

"I'll just say it," Colton began. "I, at one point, during my rock bottom and spiral, was getting blackmailed. Nobody knows I was blackmailed."

Colton said he had visited a spa in Los Angeles, CA, known for catering to gay clientele "just to look," and he subsequently received an anonymous email from a person claiming to have taken nude photos of Colton at the location.

Colton told Variety that he was never shown the alleged photos and "should have never been there" at the spa to begin with.

The unidentified blackmailer reportedly threatened to "out" Colton in the press, and so a panicked Colton reached out to his publicist for guidance and support.

Colton reportedly forwarded the threatening email to Alex, which resulted in the pair having a deeply personal conversation about the former The Bachelor star's sexual orientation.

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"I knew that out of anybody in my world, my publicist wasn't going to ruin me," Colton shared.

While it appears Alex was the first person Colton officially came out to, Colton's father apparently had his own suspicions for years.

Colton explained that when he was in the eighth grade, his father caught a glimpse of his computer when Colton had been looking at gay porn.

"Gay porn was sort of what I gravitated towards," Colton admitted, adding that he denied being gay at the time.

"I just said that I was curious and I was exploring and just looking," he recalled of the dialogue with his dad, who now supports Colton's truth.

"I remember having that conversation with him and being like, 'Just don't tell Mom.'"

Colton said he struggled with his secret for so many years -- including during his stint as The Bachelor star -- that he downed a bunch of pills one night in Summer 2020, hoping he'd never wake up.

"I tried to end my life, and it didn't work," Colton confessed. "That was the saddest and most confused and most hurt [I've ever felt]."

Colton shared with GMA co-host Robin Roberts last month that after hating himself for a long time, he finally accepted his sexuality earlier this year and has never been happier or healthier.

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Despite receiving death threats after coming out as gay, Colton told Variety he believes being open and honest was the right thing to do.

"I've had hundreds of gay Christian men and women who are confused in their walk with Jesus say, 'I felt closer to God when I came out,'" Colton said.

Colton, however, insisted he didn't announce he's gay to further his career, get attention, or attempt to make people forget or overlook the fact he had stalked and harassed Cassie in Fall 2020.

Cassie even filed a restraining order against Colton in September, but she later dropped it after Colton said the pair were able to reach an agreement in private that addressed Cassie's concerns.

"I never want people to think that I'm coming out to change the narrative, or to brush over and not take responsibility for my actions, and now that I have this gay life that I don't have to address my past as a straight man," Colton explained.

"Controlling situations to try to grasp at any part of the straight fantasy that I was trying to live out was so wrong."

Colton is now filming a reality show for Netflix about his new journey as an openly-gay and proud man. Netflix told Variety the show will go on although a Change.org petition racked in over 35,000 signatures trying to cancel it.

"Colton has been public about his past and the bad choices he's made and this will be part of the show, too," a Netflix executive said.

"While there is tension with providing a platform, we think his complicated story, which includes him taking accountability, is one others can learn from, and we trust Colton and the producers to address it in a thoughtful way."

Meanwhile, Cassie, who reportedly had no idea Colton is gay or planned on coming out on GMA, has moved on with a new boyfriend, musician Brighton Reinhardt.