Paulie Calafiore has succeeded at his latest challenge: sharing his truth with the world.
The reality TV show star, who was recently eliminated from the current season of CBS’s The Challenge: USA, came out as bisexual in an interview with GLAAD after hinting he was attracted to both men and women on the show.
“I came through athletics, so that forced me to repress who I was, sexually,” he told GLAAD. “I didn’t know if I was attracted to women, attracted to men, or if it was just like an energy thing.”
Caliafiore, who has competed on shows like MTV’s The Challenge, Ex on the Beach, and Big Brother was inspired to come out publicly after seeing how LGBTQ+ athletes like Shaun T were able to make an impact by discussing their sexualities.
“I almost felt guilty that it’s taken me this long,” he said. “I really had to change my perspective and be like, ‘Well, you know what, there might be other people that are going this exact same thing. Maybe this is what they needed to hear and what they needed to see in order to do it themselves.'”
The support of his girlfriend Cara Maria Sorbello, who also competed on The Challenge and is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, also helped. His decision to come out was his way of “breaking down all of the aspects of toxic masculinity” that he grew up with.
“Maybe there’s a younger version of me somewhere who gets to see this and [says], ‘You know what?’ I don’t have to pretend to be this because I’m an athlete,'” Calafiore explained.
In addition to bringing candidness to the athletic world, the 34-year-old also hopes to promote unity within the queer community, particularly around the stigma of bisexuality.
“This isn’t a competition of ‘Who’s actually representing this,'” he said. “It’s like, no, everything is together. It’s not just L, and then G, it’s LGBTQI+ community. … As a community, what can we do to be better and support all of our brothers and sisters?”
He reflected on fans’ reactions to the interview with a heartfelt post on Instagram, writing, “My heart is bleeding with gratitude. My soul is burning with humility. I’m so sad I had an early exit but I am so happy that I was able to show you another layer to myself and my journey.”
Check out some sexy snapshots from Caliafore’s Instagram below.
Prinny
They always have a girlfriend never a boyfriend.I’ll just file him under another straight attention *****
abfab
You do that.
sfhairy
Agreed
Donston
There does seem to be a persistent pattern with these random “reality stars” who put out of a “coming out as bi/pan” statement. They either are in a hetero relationship or have overt hetero relationship ambitions. And half of the time they’re promoting a recently started OnlyFans. Because it’s just a strong pattern, it does end up coming off more exploitative, manipulative, attention whoring, no matter the dimensions of their queerness. As I always say, you never know people’s dimensions, struggles, journeys, where they are in the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum. And there’s way more men in the world with queer dimensions than a lot of “gays” seem willing to embrace. But these patterns- “coming out” just in time to promote a new project/OnlyFans, low-key promoting toxic masculinity or queer insecurities in your “coming out” statements, making their “coming out” about being ‘not gay’ than embracing their queerness- have gotten tired, especially from these reality TV folk. Don’t try to take away people’s queer aspects because you only want to support homosexuals or dudes in gay relationships. However, the predictable patterns is not a good look. But these are “reality stars”, which means a lot of what they present is gonna be about validation and clout, no matter their dimensions or preferences or who they’re in a relationship with.
Rambeaux
“I didn’t know if it was an energy thing”.
No, dopey. It’s called a boner when you see a hot guy. And you know exactly what that means. What are you? Seven?
Donston
You do know you can be sexually into a person sans getting hard, right? You do know sexuality, preferences, love, the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum is not all about your dick getting hard? If things were all about what gets your dick hard the quickest, at least 35% percentage of guys in gay relationships wouldn’t be in them.
Fname Optional Lname
but it’s also about getting your dick hard
charlietex
If I saw this guy on the street, gay or douchebag would be the guessing game.
sfhairy
Not buying it till we see his gay for pay OF.
CatholicXXX
You mean like the bachelor guy that pretended to come out as bisexual to get more subscribers?
His blood brother even came out and said that that’s the only reason why he decided to pretend to be bi.
jthomasmpls
Nothing more predictable the bi erasure in Queerty comments. Thanks Queerty for your efforts to validate bisexual men.
“I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge that I have in myself the potential to be attracted–romantically and/or sexually–to people of more than one gender, not necessarily at the same time, in the same way, or to the same degree.” Robyn Ochs
Donston
It’s a more complicated topic than these comments (including yours) seem to accept. I completely understand being frustrated with so many of these wannabe male stars “coming out” as bi/pan/fluid/into trans folk primarily to promote a project or an OnlyFans. It doesn’t matter if they’re actually “bi”. It’s still exploitative towards “queers”. It’s still convenient gayness. Never mind how problematic their statements often are, tending to drip in cliches, hetero superiority, gay insecurities, toxic masculinity. Nonetheless, it is incredibly ignorant to try to pretend that a rather healthy amount of men are not in the bi/pan spectrum. It seems some folks still want to believe the 2% nonsense or are just really dumb when it comes to the variance of sexuality, fluidity, preferences, love, the spectrum, and different people’s struggles with ego and mental health. The world is queer as hell. It is what it is. Honestly, both the majority of these comments and the majority of “bi pride” folk are basic and act dumb. That’s partly why identity politics have become so exhausting.
jthomasmpls
It’s really not that complicated. Bi erasure is real. Bisexual does not mean 50/50 attraction. See the Kinsey scale or reread Robyn Ochs succinct description of bisexuality.
Coming out as bisexual, particularly for bisexual men, is anything but convenient, it’s very risky. Neither the hetero or queer communities are very welcoming to bisexual men. For example, “It doesn’t matter if they’re actually “bi””, and “the majority of “bi pride” folk are basic and act dumb.”
Fname Optional Lname
The number of bisexual men that exist has to be so much higher than any reported data,
abfab
Not to mention the millions of trysexual men.
Donston
Everything is different than reported, because queerness isn’t the same as race or something like that. I would wager that at least 30% of “gay presenting” people are not inherently homosexual and/or have experienced fluidity. I would guess that at least 30% of men in general probably have some queer elements to their orientation. That’s why it’s more important to focus on the individuality of “sexuality” and focus more on the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum rather than hyper-focusing on “straight”, “gay”, “bi”, etc. That would somewhat help with male insecurities and manipulation. It would also help to curve folks from using “coming out” or attaching to queerness as a way to get clout or a way to exploit “gays”.
stanpaske
I watched his original confession. It was honest, raw and truthful. Why as a demographic are we so jaded? We need receipts and dick pics to have belief. Disgusting. We all find our own way and should not judge someone else. Cara Maria is openingly bisexual. We never question a woman, but a man…shitty double standard. They have been dating for years. He acknowledged his struggle and I understand the road. He is finding his way. Let him travel that road. A girlfriend/wife proves or denies nothing. You, however…obviously need more growth. The closet is not always a box/square.