There’s been a lot of buzz about ABC possibly doing a gay version of its hit reality show The Bachelor after former star Colton Underwood came out last month. But what many people don’t seem to remember is that a gay version of the show already aired on Logo back in 2016.
Finding Prince Charming was hosted by Lance Bass and starred interior designer Robert Sepúlveda Jr., who we had honestly forgotten about until now. Being reminded inspired us to take a little trip down memory lane and to do some internet sleuthing to see what Sepúlveda’s been up to in the years since.
In September 2016, the then 33-year-old was cast on Finding Prince Charming, where thirteen men competed for his heart before one was selected to be his mate. Logo put a ton of money into marketing the series. But right before it was set to premiere, a tabloid reported that Sepúlveda once worked as an escort.
After the story broke, he immediately started doing damage control. In an interview with HuffPo, he confirmed that, yes, he had done sex work, but it was only for a brief period in his early 20s.
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“The past was the past,” he said. “I was young and it helped through college.”
Nothing wrong with that, of course. Except that he wasn’t forthright with Logo prior to filming Finding Prince Charming, which, given that the show was supposed to be about, um, reality, posed a credibility issue. It also didn’t help that, while Sepúlveda was downplaying his past publicly in interviews, he was lashing out at people privately on social media.
In a scathing, since-deleted Facebook comment, Sepúlveda said gay men should be ashamed of themselves for attacking a member of their own community… before going on to attack members of his own community.
“How many of you are on Grindr right now or other sex apps?!” he seethed. “How many of you ask or send for d*ck pics on the daily?!”
And in a since-deleted Instagram post, he threatened to sue cyberbullies for shaming him about his past.
“Targeted harassment, shaming and bullying is wrong and against the law – it doesn’t matter the age!” he wrote. “Listen closely folks, if you come for me, we will come for you and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. BULLYING IS WRONG!”
Logo said it wasn’t aware of Sepúlveda’s history–and, presumably, his temper–until after production had already started, and none of the other contestants on Finding Prince Charming knew about it until the story actually broke. Lance Bass tried to help whitewash the controversy by joking, “We all have our past. I was in a boy band. I’ll admit it.”
But by then the damage was done. Many felt Sepúlveda was two-faced, that he deliberately withheld information about himself, and that the whole show was based on a lie.
These feelings were further bolstered after it was reported that the LGBTQ non-profit he claimed to helm on the show, Atlanta Rainbow Crosswalks, was inactive after becoming ensnared in a messy fundraising controversy, according to Project Q Atlanta.
Reporter Matt Hennie wrote:
It’s fine that Sepulveda travels across the globe to get paid to have sex. It’s not OK that he portrays himself as an activist and non-profit leader when he’s neither. No one needs a Prince Charming like that. Not even reality television.
Adding a layer of awkwardness to all of this was that, throughout Finding Prince Charming, Sepúlveda talked about truthfulness and how being honest was one of the most important traits he looked for in a partner.
Finding Prince Charming tanked in the ratings. Barely 150,000 people tuned into Logo to watch the premiere. Meanwhile, the reunion episode drew less than 125,000. And the reviews were even worse.
Jeffrey Self at Vulture called the show “depressing”, writing:
The most depressing thing of all? Gay Bachelor made everyone admit their secrets to him and yet he keeps all his own secrets to himself. The secrets we can see by Googling his name. Secrets that could help a lot of people. But that wouldn’t help those rainbow sidewalks in Atlanta, would it?
And Kevin O’Keeffe at Mic wrote:
Finding Prince Charming‘s problem is not that it’s reality TV–it’s that it’s bad reality TV. This is an iffy premise, and it needs expert production to work. But the editing, story planning and casting all fail this show, making it something far worse than the offensive mess many assumed it would be: It’s just dull, and it’s not worth even a hate-watch.
Season 1 lasted for a total of eight episodes (plus a reunion) and ended with Sepúlveda choosing Eric Leonardos to be his mate. Less than six months later, the two had broken up. A second season was announced by Logo, but it never came into fruition.
Not long after the final episode aired, contestant Chad Spodick, who dramatically walked off the show in episode six, took to Instagram to accuse Sepúlveda of being a liar and embezzling over $40,000 from Atlanta Rainbow Crosswalks, among other allegations.
Sepúlveda never responded to the accusations and Spodick later deleted the post.
Related: ‘Finding Prince Charming’ Contestant Blasts Robert Sepúlveda Jr. In Dramatic Tell-All
In March 2017, Sepúlveda told Us Weekly that Finding Prince Charming had made him so famous that he couldn’t leave his house without people recognizing him.
“I can’t even go on a hike without people asking me about my relationship status,” he claimed, adding that he was being bombarded with offers to appear on other reality shows.
“I have a lot of production companies that are interested in doing shows with me, so I’m going to focus on that and my pocketbook. At the end of the day, nobody’s going to take care of me but me.”
Then in April 2018, he told Los Angeles Blade that of all the major pop culture moments to happen in his lifetime, the most significant had to have been the one he was a part of.
“Being on Finding Prince Charming,” he said. “That’s definitely a pop culture moment, and I’m so glad I was part of that.”
Sepúlveda hasn’t appeared in any reality shows since Finding Prince Charming and today runs his own interior design business called RSJ Design, which specializes in luxury residential and commercial spaces, although the company’s official Instagram page is mostly just thirsty pictures of himself. (Maybe it’s part of its marketing strategy?)
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He’s also preparing to launch his own luxury candle and jewelry line called RSJ Collection. According to the company’s website, the jewelry is intended to be “genderless” and the candles are “inspired by history.” No word yet on when the products will be available to purchase.
We’re glad Sepúlveda’s interior design business is thriving and that he’s having success in his creative pursuits. Now, here’s a video of him showing how you can achieve your very own “Sepúlveda stomach.”
Chrisk
Yeah, I’d say that the whole escorting thing was no one’s business. Especially for a reality show where most of them were fame whore’s themselves. However, the crosswalk thing lucy got some splaining to do.
Jere
I tend to agree about the escorting being no one’s business, but I don’t think the issue here is the escorting per se, but rather that he wasn’t forthcoming about it, either with the production company beforehand or on the show. If he’d shrugged his shoulders and said “Yep, I did a little sex work when I was in college to make ends meet. It happens.” then that probably would have been the end of it. I’m also surprised that whatever background check that the production company did on him didn’t turn up something that seems to have been readily available to anyone who googled the guy.
Godabed
Thriving is a word, but I don’t think its the right word for this situation. No legitimate business has selfies on it’s Instagram page. He’s just a narcissist. That’s not a business model.
Mr. Stadnick
I know when I am redecorating my luxury home I want to know what the designer’s abs look like. It is a make or break deal.
Kangol2
I’m kind of surprised that anyone at Queerty forgot this man and this show, since the series and Sepúlveda’s scandals were discussed a lot on here when it aired back in 2016, including after the first episode. Long before the revelations about his escorting and the Atlanta Pride crosswalk scandal broke, I wrote this:
@Jim: Something’s off with him. The show should be renamed “Princess Liar.”
I wasn’t the only one who detected something was amiss. Right after this I watched the opening episode a second time and cut him some slack. But the series was essentially the Gay Batchelor for the 2010s, and while it bombed, it did provide a template for future shows.
Kangol2
Actually, going back through all the Queerty articles and posts about him, there are some interesting tidbits, and the story was far more elaborate than is described above. There were allegations of racism, the sex work wasn’t just in the past, liberal and conservative posters were sounding off, etc. Those conversations really did get lively not so long ago.
Toofie
This seems like a random hatchet job on a guy from a show 5 years ago. Not a fan of his, but his FB post had some points. You keep attacking someone and then clutch your pearls when he finally responds? It’s the same today.
Cam
I remember watching the show and thinking the guy came off vacant. He kept asking all of the bachelors to be honest and talk about themselves, but then he wouldn’t say anything about himself. There really wasn’t anything about what he presented on the show that would have made anybody want hi unless they were into his looks. That was the problem, it was just boring and I didn’t care enough about the lead to give a cr*p about whether or not he found anybody.
Also, I thought that it was revealed he was still escorting, not that it had ended in his 20s, so some of the guys were angry that the show lied to them about his job etc.
MissTerri
Dear Diary,
I remember watching the show and thinking the guy came off vacant. He kept asking all of the bachelors to be honest and talk about themselves, but then he wouldn’t say anything about himself. There really wasn’t anything about what he presented on the show that would have made anybody want hi unless they were into his looks. That was the problem, it was just boring and I didn’t care enough about the lead to give a cr*p about whether or not he found anybody.
Cam
@MissTerri
Awwww, the right wing troll account is so enraged and bitter that its sad trolling keeps getting called out, it’s hoping if it lashes out and throws a tantrum people will stop doing it. LOL
Oh sweetie, your rage at your lies being exposed are just delicious. And your trolling, no matter what screename you do it under, is sad and weak.
Now you toddle off to your manager at the Siberian troll farm and ask them to put somebody smarter on this sites account….the LGBTQ folks are too smart for a weak troll like you. Sorry bout it.
MissTerri
ZZzzzzzzZZZZZZ!!!!!
ScottOnEarth
One thing’s for sure, gay men will always attack other gay men with more veracity and hatred than any other group of people. He’s right about the hypoctrical judgment and bullying.
Jim
We really need to stop our Victorian attitudes regarding “sex work”!
Cam
Nothing to do with that. If somebody wants to engage in sex work it should be legal and taxed.
My issue was, a LOT of guys would not want to date a guy that was sleeping with a bunch of other people during the relationship. So he and the show shouldn’t have said he was an activist with a non-profit when apparently the non-profit was shut down and he was a sex worker.
He and the show were the ones that were hiding it, not anybody on this site.
Polaro
Don’t care about the sex work. It should be legal. He does seem to not be the greatest person, however.
Jim
Ah, Boy Meets Boy with James Getzlaff was in 2003, waaay before Robert’s romp on Finding Prince Charming. Your reporter should be ashamed for poor research.
barryaksarben
I like the other show about boy meets boy . That guy was cute as a buttone but when they revealed they had straight guys in there I stopped watching
lykeitiz
MUCH better show! Better looking guys, better format, more like an actual reality dating show.
ladron
The show and the “star” are just vapid. Just the idea that this guy needed help finding love … hardly.
Being a sex-worker matters less than him 1) being racist, 2) claiming to have no other choice (with his parents so willing to help), and 3) blaming his “clients” for his inability to find love. Worst still, he values honesty but expresses none.
I love how they threw in some average guys in the mix just so there would be people easily dismissed in the first weeks.
I rooted for the potential dates – prayed they’d be eliminated, so they could find true love.
KellyRobinsonJr
Come on QUEERTY… Rehashing an escort’s past. Even Fox News stays away from Melania’s escorting past.
Kevan1
Well duh, Fox supports Donald Dump and his paid escort wife. Why would they talk about her whoring around?
Tombear
I realize he may trip some gay men’s trigger but I think he looks to fem. Boner blocker!
Dannyzackery
Seriously, so what he got triggered and got made, he’s right to do so, no one wants to be called out for a sex job they did in the past that they needed to do, but he made a mistake, just forgive and forget, the man deserve to live again.