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When Colton Underwood was announced as the star of ABC’s longest-running reality show, producers dubbed him “the Virgin Bachelor.”
Now we know that that title was far from accurate.
Sure, Colton was a stranger to the ways of women before his tenure, but it seems he had hooked up with a whole lot of dudes.
Colton recently opened up about the extreme measures he took to keep his sexuality hidden before publicly coming out as gay in 2021.
During an appearance on the “We Need to Talk” podcast, Colton admitted that he limited his encounters to a very specific group: married men.
“I was very careful, even when I was physically experimenting with guys and trying to, like, figure myself out,” Underwood explained, adding:
“I was so careful on how I did everything.”
That caution extended to who he chose to be involved with.
“To protect myself, I would only hook up with married men,” he said. (via People).
“[Married] ‘straight’ men. So that was sort of my rule that I would never break. When I was in the closet, that would be the only time I would ever hook up with men was if they were married… because they had more to lose than I did.”
According to Underwood, the decision stemmed from fear.
“I was very careful,” he said while discussing the years he spent struggling with his sexuality behind closed doors.
Underwood explained that he viewed married men as a safer option because they had just as much — if not more — to lose if their interactions became public.
Looking back, Colton acknowledged that the mindset was unhealthy.
He described it as a form of self-preservation during a period when he was terrified that his sexuality would be exposed and potentially derail both his football aspirations and his public image.
When he appeared on The Bachelorette and later became the lead of The Bachelor in 2019, his virginity became a major storyline. At the time, the label followed him everywhere.
Now, Underwood says he hated the attention.
He revealed that he worried constant questions about his virginity would lead people to dig deeper into his personal life and uncover the secret he was desperately trying to keep hidden.
“I always got asked why I was a virgin,” Underwood recalled, explaining that producers embraced the narrative while he feared what further scrutiny might reveal.
Many social media users expressed sympathy for the fear and pressure he described, while others questioned the ethics of pursuing married men, regardless of the circumstances.
These days, Colton is married to Jordan C. Brown. And in 2024, the couple welcomed their first child.
So the road to happiness may have been a winding one — but at least Colton got there eventually.
