"In addition to saying sorry to those women, he would said thank you because, ultimately, they and the franchise helped him get to this place. When he was named the Bachelor, Underwood said he remembered 'praying to God' the morning he found out and 'thanking him for making me straight,' thinking this would lead to him finally getting the wife and them having kids. But Underwood said he had known the truth of his sexuality since a young age, knowing he 'just felt different' from the age of 6, when he couldn't process it. He knew he was 'more emotional' than the other boys in his class. It took until high school for him to realize he 'was more attracted to the boys and the men' than he was the opposite sex. Having grown up in the Catholic church, he remembered he 'learned in the Bible that gay is a sin' in Catholic grade school...."
"Former 'Bachelor' star Colton Underwood comes out as gay" (Good Morning America).
I don't watch "The Bachelor," and I know there's fakery — more or less — in TV reality shows, but I can't believe a show about a crowd of women competing for one man doesn't make absolutely sure the guy is straight. At the very least, the problem of his confusion about his sexual orientation ought to have become part of the show.
I mean no disrespect to a gay man who goes through a struggle — particularly a religious struggle — to come to admit to himself that he is what he is, but he went on a show — a show about raging heterosexuality. Did he deceive the show people who vetted him? Do the show people not care about this problem or are they just inept?
Did Robin Roberts ask him any of these tough questions? Or did Underwood choose Roberts as his mode of communication because she'd give him a comfortable forum?
Buried deeply in the article:
Underwood was then the lead of season 23 of "The Bachelor" in 2019, with his virginity being a frequent topic of conversation and his famous fence-jumping moment being one of the franchise's most dramatic moments.
He gave his final rose to contestant Cassie Randolph but ultimately chose to not propose to her, though they later told "GMA" they had discussed an engagement. The two dated after the show wrapped until announcing their breakup in early 2020.
They later made headlines when Randolph was granted a restraining order against Underwood, accusing him of stalking and harassing her. In a police report, she accused him of putting a tracking device on her car....
Did Randolph consider suing the show? I'm guessing the answer is that she signed away all her rights to get on the show.
I see this interview being done in several different aspects. First, Robin Roberts was probably chosen to interview Colton Underwood in his coming out interview instead of George Stephanopolous or Michael Strahan as she is a lesbian. The thinking was that he would be at more ease with her than with two straight men. Secondly, it may have been done to boost ratings for The Bachelor, which is getting "old" for a TV show with something not expected of a show aimed at women who tune in to watch a good old fashioned romantic "Boy meets Girl(s)" situation. Third, and this is my theory as to why the interview happened, the producers are testing the waters to see how this plays in Peoria in this day and age as they have plans to do a Bachelor with a gay man, most likely Underwood, looking for love amongst a group of gay men. It certainly would shake up this show and potentially draw bigger ratings out of curiosity, at least initially. Could this setup also get the show cancelled? Yes, that would be a big risk. In our country's current woke status, viewers at home who publicly tolerate homosexuality may be turned off by it in privacy.
Interesting. Hasn't there already been a show (maybe not "The Bachelor") will gay men — a mixture of sexes? Why not a bisexual person competed for by males and females? Anyway, I see a column in USA Today by David Oliver: "Fans want a gay 'Bachelor' season with Colton Underwood, but it's not the right move. Here's why." Without reading, I'd say you don't want Underwood again because he was dishonest the first time around, and because of that "stalking and harassing" issue. But Oliver writes:
In part because queer dating is not the same as straight dating, and the show's format doesn't lend itself to adequately exploring those differences. "The Bachelor" works because sparks constantly fly as contestants vie for the lead's love. But for a gay season of the show to succeed from a representation standpoint, it would need to spend significant amount of time educating the audience about gay dating. Simply put, a raunchy reality show doesn't feel like the right avenue for that.
The show is raunchy? Sounds terrible!
For example, straight dates don't cover the coming out process, nor do they involve picking a location that is LGBTQ-friendly. One problem that many straight people may be unfamiliar with, too, is that a huge piece of queer dating for men involves baseline sexual compatibility. Explaining that to a mainstream audience isn't impossible, but may be difficult to convey given network restrictions....
So the show isn't raunchy. Isn't sexual compatibility a huge part of all dating?
Maybe the show's contained environment could gloss over some of the particulars of queer dating and just focus on showing people falling in love – the goal of the franchise in the first place....
The show is edited. Just edit.
We've been down this road before Calls for a gay version of "The Bachelor" are nothing new – and the concept has been tried before. Think back to Logo's "Finding Prince Charming" and Bravo's "Boy Meets Boy." Both stalled after one season.
Ah, yes. That's the one I've seen. "Boy Meets Boy." I mentioned having watched it in a post from June 2004, so the show was on before I started this blog 17 years ago. Amazing the lack of cultural progress for "The Bachelor" to have been around all this time and never used gay people.
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