pride romance

EXCLUSIVE: Freshly out former ‘Bachelorette’ contestant Josh Seiter just got engaged to fellow male exotic dancer

By · 20 comments · Updated on January 26, 2024
Josh Seiter with an open button-down shirt.

Josh Seiter was homeschooled growing up in a conservative religious family, and his indoctrinated him with the belief that homosexuality is a sin.

Now, years later, the former Bachelorette contestant is an out and proud bisexual man, and engaged to a fellow male exotic dancer. And the best part is, his mother was part of the festivities!

Last week, Seiter came out in Instinct, and revealed he’s dating his now-fiancé, David. In the interview, Seiter, 35, says his upbringing played a big part in him not acknowledging his sexuality sooner.

But now, Seiter is ready to share his story with the world. He and David perform with America’s Loverboys, an exotic male dancing troupe in the Midwest, and Seiter manages his own popular OnlyFans account as well.

Seiter recently sat down with Queerty to talk about his new engagement, budding romance and celebrating his first Pride as his true self. Here’s what he had to say…

QUEERTY: You recently publicly came out as bisexual, and said you came to this realization later in life. I’m wondering what moments brought you to that?

JOSH SEITER: It was a string for moments. For me, it was kind of about coming into who I am genuinely am, rather than who I was conditioned to be or think I was. I think anybody, regardless of their journey, you find that in your younger years we’re conditioned to view things in a certain way. Then as we get older, we start to view things more independently. For me, in my journey of coming out, it was all about that dichotomy of how I was conditioned to view the world and feel, and how I genuinely feel when I tap into myself and what I genuinely think. 

I was homeschooled my entire life. My brothers were pulled out of public school when they were in elementary school–I’m the youngest. So from three [years old] all the way ’till college, I was homeschooled. With that came the very typical pro-religious, pro-conservative, Christian bent, and we were taught that homosexuality is wrong, it’s a sin. It took a while after 15 years of this constant barrage of stuff to shirk that, and start thinking for myself.

You have a partner, David. You two have been close friends for a while. Tell us a little bit about how you met, and what led you to start dating last November?

It’s not a typical love story. I quit dancing in 2017, so I took a four-year hiatus. Then shortly after Covid restrictions went away in 2021, I joined America’s Loverboys for a couple of big shows a year they wanted me to headline. But that was about the end of it. Then last year, I started dancing more with them. That’s how I met David. He’s also a dancer with them, he’s their in-house cowboy. We met through work, through dancing and spending a lot of time together on the road. It’s kind of like law school and bootcamp in a really weird way, in that dancing is so unique, and so many people can’t empathize what what dancers deal with, or kind of that lifestyle. Because of that, the people you’re in it with become very, very close to you, and you form these bonds that I think are atypical of most bonds you would form on the outside world. That was definitely responsible for all of us within the group becoming closer, because we’re on the road together, we’re touring together, we’re dancing together, living together. That’s how I met him.

You told us before we sat down today that you have some news about David that you would like to reveal. What would you like to share?!

You guys are the first ones I’m going on the record saying this to: we are engaged now! David is not just my boyfriend. He’s my fiancé. This all happened last night, like 12 hours ago. Like, literally hasn’t even hit the presses. That’s great. 

How did you pop the question?

I didn’t! He popped it to me. 

OK! Give us a little more details…

We were at my mom’s house. He was like, ‘Let’s go see your mom,’ and I see her a lot, so I was like, ‘Why do you want to go there?’ And he’s like, ‘Let’s just go to her house.’ So we ate, and we were talking. It’s so cliche, but he got down on one knee, and asked the question. The ring doesn’t fit, the ring is too small. But that’s OK. He’s going to get it resized.

But my mom was there–that was great. I can’t explain how much that meant to me to have her there. She lost both her husband, her mother, her father, her grandkids and her two sons through either deaths or them moving away all within the last two years. The only constant in her life has been me, because I’m in the area. So for him to include my mother in that, knowing how much that would mean to her, and I think also what’s important is the fact that she was OK with it, and she approves of it, and she’s gotten to a place in her journey–because it’s not just about my journey or David’s journey. It’s the journey of everyone around us–to be comfortable with that and accepting of that. I’m very proud of my mom, and I’m proud that she’s proud of me, and I’m very grateful that David included her in all of that.

I think it just shows in 2023 where we’re at in the world. I can go from a home-schooled kid of born-again Christians who was taught that homosexuality was wrong, to a male stripper that’s getting engaged to another male stripper, and my mom is happy for me. That shows the direction we’re going, and I like that direction. 

This is your first Pride as an out bisexual man. How have you been enjoying it?

I definitely want to go to a few festivals, and enjoy some things in Chicago that are happening surrounding Pride–maybe go to Boys Town. I used to be a go-go dancer in Boys Town. That is something that I’m looking forward to. But other than that, I’ll just be working. I have four shows in the next 12 days. So just enjoying it from a different point of view this time, with more appreciation this time. Definitely a feeling of more freedom watching it, and more pride in watching it than I have in the past.

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