Former Bachelor and future Netflix reality subject Colton Underwood has made a frightening revelation: he only came out as gay because of a blackmail scandal.
In a new interview with Variety, Underwood recounts how he began exploring his sexuality at a Los Angeles spa–a location known to attract gay men “just to look,” as he says. Not long after, he received an anonymous email claiming to have nude photos of him at the venue. The anonymous emailer threatened to out him to the press, which prompted Underwood to contact his publicist.
“I knew that out of anybody in my world, my publicist wasn’t going to ruin me,” Underwood said.
The emails eventually led Underwood to have a heart-to-heart with his publicist and to seek treatment in therapy. He also began using Grindr under an alias, before finally deciding to go public.
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In the same interview, Underwood also addresses the stalking scandal with his former Bachelor girlfriend Cassie Randolph. A legal agreement he maintains with Randolph prevents him from discussing certain details of the incidents, though Underwood does insist he did not physically abuse her.
“I did not physically touch or physically abuse Cassie in any way, shape or form,” Underwood says.
“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,” he adds. “Controlling situations to try to grasp at any part of the straight fantasy that I was trying to live out was so wrong.”
Colton Underwood came out as gay in a Good Morning America interview last month. Initial response was somewhat supportive, though his past incidents involving Randolph, as well as the revelation that he had already nabbed a reality show for Netflix about his life since coming out, invited wide backlash.
Critics contend that Underwood has “monetized” his coming out, and that the amount of publicity surrounding his coming out owes to his status as a wealthy, white man.
Tyrone Johnston
Hmm. I bet Colton went to Century Spa in LA. I’ve seen quite a few “celebrities” and closeted athletes there.
Troyfight
@Tyrone …..keep talking man….tell more..a lot more….
Bengali
And of course just like GOP, LGBTQ community rejoices in eating their own. We all know that the coming out process is difficult for nearly all of us yet when it involves someone else we seem bent and entitled to mock them for whatever methodology they choose.
winemaker
As for gorgeous Colton Underwood monetizing on his coming out, why not. Really most of us would do the damned thing if in a similar situation? And as for the nude photos, could this have been a shower / locker room cam? Surely he’s showered with his teammates after a football game so there. Not to be creepy here, but looking forward to the nude photos, they should be awesome.
Gadfeal
I’m showing my age when I lived in Paris, there were sex parties where a famous, American leading man of the 50s-60s could be found in a bed, face down, derrière on offer to all comers willing to make a deposit<
Then in a now defunct spa near Opéra, Rudolph Nureyev was a regular guest.
man5996853
His past as a “straight man” or his past as a closet-case?
winemaker
Give Colton Underwood a break.
QJ201
“Spa”
he was in a bathhouse
Chrisk
Ha. Yeah, I read spa and thought what’s the problem. No one would care naked or not. Of course there’s the other kind of spa and yes that would be a problem for his squeeky clean straight guy façade.
winemaker
Over the last 35 ears the bathhouses have closed up at least here in San Francisco. having lived in Los Angeles in the 80’s there were many gay bathhouses offering many so called ‘diversions’ One of the most famous if exclusive was 8709 on third street in West Hollywood. There also the Hollywood Spa on Ivar Street. I haven’t lived in Los Angeles for over 30 years and very likely all of these establishments have been closed for years. Ah the memories of the bathhouses
Donston
So, he only came to “look” but there are supposedly photos of him there naked? Ok. And that was the first time he’d ever experienced any homo behaviors? Sure. Is he saying that had not been blackmailed he’d still be publicly closeted and perhaps looking for another chick on TV? While in so many words he’s definitely saying that he and his publicist took this supposed blackmailing situation as an opportunity for more deals and attention first and foremost. This is some Porsha level nonsense but worse. I also don’t recall him being accused of physical abusive. He was accused of being verbally abusive, stalking and placing a tracking device on her car.
Homophobia, hetero pressures, toxic masculinity, internalized homophobia, mental health struggles, male insecurities, fluidity, uncertainty about where you are in the gender, romantic, sexual, emotional, relationship contentment spectrum- none of this stuff should be taken lightly. They affect a lot of people. And a lot of folks have a difficult time dealing with any of it. If he just chose now keep it completely 100, most would not care. But the still constant lying, altering of narratives, attention whoring and using misdeeds as come-ups – it’s just too damn much.
MissTerri
You seem a tad OBSESSED dear. Maybe consider therapy hmmmm?????
Cam
@MissTerri
Nothing upsets you right wing trolls more than when somebody makes valid commentary on the dangers of the closet, bigotry, etc. Because closeted and terrified to come out is where you want all LGBTQ people, right troll?
Donston
MissTeri, I’ve been in therapy for almost a decade. Now, focus on the actual topic of the article or at least the post.
MissTerri
Maybe consider suing your therapist, Dear! Whatever you’ve been paying for isn’t working! NEXT!!!!
Donston
Yes, I am considering moving on to someone else. Thank you for caring about my mental health.
Now, do you have anything to say about my post or the details of the this article?
G R
I have to agree, there’s some calculated “drip, drip, drip” happening here with what seems like some Travolta-esque fancy footwork.
succubus
yo MissTerri….be careful with dumbston and cram…. they are “forbidden fruit” commenters here on Queerty. Dont bite.
Heywood Jablowme
@Donston: Remember when you and I used to be same person? (According to a certain someone.) That was only three or four months ago. Ah the good old days.
Regarding Colton Underwear (grr, damn spellcheck), if he really did go to a gay spa/bathhouse, he was actively – nay desperately – seeking attention. He wouldn’t have been surprised when he succeeded in getting attention; that was the plan.
Donston
Hollywood, yes, the basics and their simple (sometimes simple-minded) commentary stay aggy. Then they hold grudges when they couldn’t hold up their end of a debate without getting ignorant. They even go so far as to defend very obvious trolls.I just don’t care anymore.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this bathhouse blackmail shit is another lie in order to divert from another lie or to get sympathy and social media shoutouts. And I also wouldn’t be surprised if it’s legit. It doesn’t really matter anymore.
It’s funny that he’s already talking about finding a husband and having kids. He’ll probably pimp out his gay relationships as well. The more things change…
Mehki
Agreed.. He’a parsing what he did as though verbal abuse, stalking, threatening, or other actions short of physical abuse doesn’t negativity affect someone.
He’s full of sh*t.
Mister P
When the going gets tough don’t call a lawyer, call a publicist.
Harley
Is there such a thing as a gay spa any more? I thought those went out with cruising the parks.
Chrisk
Ha. Yes mostly gone. Gone are the days when you’d find large crowds of hot guys to choose from. Now it’s mostly guys who are well out of their prime, twinks, and tweakers.
Bengali
Aha I knew I recognized you from Griffith Park. hahahahahaha OMG – kidding of course but I never went to a bathhouse. Certainly I was never an angel. But I met so many (ok not THAT many) at the “park” until authorities closed down access roads and made it dangerous for OUR KIND to cavort there. While I would meet people there I never risked being arrested…okay that one Sunday morning where I ran into a somewhat well-known celebrity at the time where my “innocent” 6am walk in the park found me later bent over a rock and enjoying it like there was no tomorrow. We had breakfast after and I promised I’d never out him.
Gadfeal
The gay sauna had a very important function when society and the law was anti-gay. It was a place where one could be cleansed and enjoy “intimacy” in one place; there was no risk of “exposure” (before cell phones) of outdoor encounters, and no risk of some crazed self-hating homo doing you in after sex. In countries where young people live with family until married, it was a protected “oasis” to be intimate.
The author must be a “younger gay” i.e. one who feels naked without a cell phone and Internet, who, with the nubile physiques of youth can use Grindr, etc. to encounter others. While this means that young gays in intolerant communities don’t have to systematically move to a larger urban zone to live with some sense of safety, it does mean:
1. Those over 35 face “age-ism”
2. Evaluation of partners has become reductive – an algorithm concocted by bean-counting Aspergics like M. Zuckerberg
3. The danger of physical harm by latent, screwed-up gays has returned.
4. Interpersonal communication skills are disfavored when you don’t even have to meet a person socially (even in a conversation in a sauna) before sex.
In countries where people are forced to act “familial”, a gay sauna would almost be a public facility. The closest institution would be the Eros centres in Germany, where the State removes proxenetism from “intimacy services”, regular health surveillance, and payment services.
Dadams77
Chrisk. Some guys are into older men and/or twinks. So them being at a gay bathhouse is not necessarily a bad thing. As for the tweakers, I hope they get the help they need to battle their drug addictions but I could not handle that
Kangol2
Google/Bing/DuckDuckGo the words “Gay” “Bathhouse” “Spa” and you’ll see gay bathhouses and spas in the US still exist.
Troyfight
“…led Underwood to have a heart-to-heart with his publicist and to seek treatment in therapy. He also began using Grindr under an alias…”
Bwah hahahaha!!!!
Cam
So the guy whose whole schtick on the Bachelor was that he was a virgin who just hadn’t found the right person yet was naked at a bathhouse but was just there to “watch”?
I’d respect him more if he didn’t try to stick to that pretty obvious lie. Again, I respect the trauma of his coming out from a religious background, but he still seems to think he needs to maintain that little piece of fiction. He was a repressed closeted guy, nobody is shocked that he was out trolling for sex.
You hear that Tim Tebow?
G R
Yep. He’s told as many different stories as Dr. Fauci and if you’re paying attention the incongruities are very easy to spot.
RTG
GR- had to get your right wing troll comment in there, didn’t you?
Cam
@G R
You misstated, you mean Trump, And nobody has lied as much as Trump, except maybe Sarah Huckabee.
Prinny
So much for being a virgin. Is a gay spa a bathhouse or something else?
Fahd
To me, this reads like a narrative designed to make him sympathetic (poor guy was being blackmailed) and to undermine the seemingly valid accusation that he is crassly monetizing his coming out. As far as I’m concerned, I have a feeling the gay “spa” thing never happened and that and the supposed blackmailing is all his publicist’s invention.
In any case, I don’t need to know every awkward step in his getting to this point – unless there are salacious photos/videos – and even taking white privilege, etc. into consideration, I don’t begrudge him trying to leverage his D-list celebrity and make a few bucks off that upcoming show.
Eye candy to some, not really that important to all.
Donston
The “streets” are now saying that the whole spa/blackmail shit is nonsense and that it was his secret bf threatening to “out” him. If that’s the case, I guess Colton (and his publicist) had to be thinking that this spa/blackmail story would make it seem like he hasn’t been dating and sexually engaging with dudes for some time now. It certainly doesn’t earn him any sympathy though. But I guess it doesn’t even really matter.
I don’t resent his hustle to keep making money and to keep getting publicly. That’s what these “reality stars” and social media hoes do. I do resent another person trying to use “coming out” as a device to erase all their messiness from the past. And I do resent that his continuous lies and messiness is so transparent. At least make shit up that is more believable. While the fact that this is someone who just months ago was harassing, stalking his gf and putting a tracking device on her car just makes this shit go from seedy and tacky to troubling.
Like I said, if he just came clean and was legit honest concerning his dimensions, past manipulation, struggles and his journey then most the ire he’s received would dissipate. But he’s still caught up in creating a faulty narrative as well as getting in that self-promotion. At this point it’s just sad-funny and probably more entertaining than his show will be.
Fahd
@Donston
I’m not excusing or minimizing his alleged/admitted/proven transgressions against his gf or any of his other unsavory behavior, but at any given time I only have so much resentment available. He’s not worth it to me. Definitely seems to be a sleazy component to his character, but there’s also, let he who is without sin cast the first stone, etc.
Donston
I resent the tactics, the privilege and the calculation. This isn’t the first or last time we’ll see this kind of mess. I definitely get what you’re saying though.
Jim
Blacked mailed for being a media whore??? We knew that already!!!
ShiningSex
You mean bath house? Yeah bath house. Gross. Those places still should be closed. Nothing but disease spreaders. He came out because he had a tv deal.
Hdtex
@ShiningSex
Sex shaming is gross. By default, YOU are gross.
richybruce
And by all means, sell your struggle to come out to Netflix. Whatever. Next.
Gadfeal
The gay sauna had a very important function when society and the law was anti-gay. It was a place where one could be cleansed and enjoy “intimacy” in one place; there was no risk of “exposure” (before cell phones) of outdoor encounters, and no risk of some crazed self-hating homo doing you in after sex. In countries where young people live with family until married, it was a protected “oasis” to be intimate.
The author must be a “younger gay” i.e. one who feels naked without a cell phone and Internet, who, with the nubile physiques of youth can use Grindr, etc. to encounter others. While this means that young gays in intolerant communities don’t have to systematically move to a larger urban zone to live with some sense of safety, it does mean:
1. Those over 35 face “age-ism”
2. Evaluation of partners has become reductive – an algorithm concocted by bean-counting Aspergics like M. Zuckerberg
3. The danger of physical harm by latent, screwed-up gays has returned.
4. Interpersonal communication skills are disfavored when you don’t even have to meet a person socially (even in a conversation in a sauna) before sex.
In countries where people are forced to act “familial”, a gay sauna would almost be a public facility. The closest institution would be the Eros centres in Germany, where the State removes proxenetism from “intimacy services”, regular health surveillance, and payment services.
BoomerMyles
Yet all the Colton haters still thirst for him.
Dadams77
Thinking somebody is attractive and wanting to date, hookup, or have a LTR is not the same thing
Hdtex
This Colton hater finds him deeply repulsive.
leauxbeaux
He was on his way, at 3 in the morning, to a Subway and mistook the entrance to the “tubs” for a spot to feed his hunger. While there, he received an email from the guy who had just bent him over a chair. A email threatening to expose him so he had to call his publicist. What else was a girl to do?
gabbym
Very funny and probably true.
MissTerri
Uh oh! Are we about to have another Jussie Smollett incident?
Hdtex
Reich-wing triggered troll triggered troll triggered troll
gabbym
As Andy Warhol said…everybody will seek their 15 minutes of fame and time is running out for Miss Colton.
gregg2010
Honey, if I could have made money with my coming out, I would have.
DennisBTR
For the vast majority of people in the US the path to coming out is long, torturous and terrifying. Just about everyone wishes they could have done something differently.
We should just be happy that he is finally out of the closet and hope that he will have a more fulfilling life and will return to the gay community some of his good fortune. Perhaps others can feel emboldened to come out because Colton Underwood is now out.
chappy51
Who gives a crap why or why he came out. I sure don’t! He’s here, he’s queer! Let it go people. Congrats Colton. Now do something good for the
LGBTQ, and don’t let them walk all over you! Good luck!
Hdtex
His PR people are working overtime. Won’t make him any more relevant.
succubus
he’s like the gay for pay porn actor you lust for …only to throw out of bed (so to speak) when you find out he’s been su cking dick for fun.
henare
So I guess that new show is going to feature Gus Kenworthy showing this guy the correct way to work a bathhouse?
cuteguy
Colton is dreamy. Can’t wait for his Netflix show
winemaker
That being said, can’t wait for Colton’s nude photos. Hopefully they’re full front and not some BS covered to entice Really he gave out the gay vibes and very likely ABC knew hew was gay but due to low ratings, for the Bachelor decided to go with this. That being said, he’s good looking and seems to have a nice personality. something many gay men, at least in San Francisco lack as they think they’re all that , the world revolves around them and their S**T and asses don’t stink.
Donston
You don’t know his personality. And there hasn’t really been any evidence of a “nice personality”. He was just stalking, tracking and verbally abusing his girlfriend months ago. While everything he’s presented to the public has been persona and about validation seeking. And he seems to still be lying and and constructing narratives. He doesn’t even come off charming or clever.
He could become a better person the more he’s “out” and the more he’s honest. But you seem to be getting off on him seeming “innocent” and naive. But even that is persona.
Honestly, I think I’m done arguing the Colton defenders. Y’all stay ignoring an array of things because he turns you on. It’s cool.
Critifur
How does a person become “rich” after three years in professional football on the practice squad and a couple of seasons on reality TV. I don’t get how that makes a 29 year old enough money to be considered rich. Or is he rich because his parents support his wealth? I am happy for a person to live their truth, I do not support the manner in which he has monetized his life, not just his coming out. I am not a fan of reality TV (of the housewives, bachelor, Paris Hilton, Kardashians persuasion), so it isn’t simply making a living on his coming out that I find reprehensible, it’s the whole gross package.
bvick1636
“The emails eventually led Underwood to have a heart-to-heart with his publicist and to seek treatment in therapy.” Was he seeking therapy because he had “hidden” the fact he had been gay all his life, or because he couldn’t face the fact he was no longer going to be able to play his role of the macho straight jock “woman chaser” he had gotten away with on television and in life for so long and was now going to be black-mailed into admitting the truth?
justgeo
Basic POS that some FAGS gay DUDES that are self-hating think are worth their dirty cum filled old socks.
mz.sam
Wow…what a pathetic bunch of Colton hater scum-queens this celebrity news event generated with the avalanche of venom spewed in comparison to only TWO congratulatory comments on the same blog site (May 12) report where long-time PA Rep. Brian Sims donation one of his kidneys to his dying gay neighbor. These contrarians need to take an honest look in the mirror more often.
cuteguy
Leave Colton Alone is the new Leave Britney Alone