BACHELOR Colton Underwood claimed he “hooked up” with men before going on reality TV and was “blackmailed” to come out with nude spa photos.
Weeks after publicly coming out as gay, the TV personality revealed that he made the personal announcement after someone “threatened” to release X-rated pictures taken without his consent.
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In an in-depth interview with Variety, Colton, 29, admitted that his coming out story was prompted by an outside figure.
“I’ll just say it. I, at one point, during my rock bottom and spiral, was getting blackmailed. Nobody knows I was blackmailed," he confessed.
The former NFL hopeful went on to explain that he secretly visited a male spa in Los Angeles - which is "known for its gay clientele" last year.
He said in the interview that he went to the spa “just to look” and admitted he “should never have been there.”
After he visited the establishment, he alleges he was then blackmailed with nude photos of himself - though he says he never saw the evidence.
The sender of the alleged message threatened to “out” Colton to the media - which caused him to forward the email to his publicist.
“I knew that out of anybody in my world, my publicist wasn’t going to ruin me,” he said, adding that it led to him being “forced” to have an “honest” conversation about his sexual orientation.
Previously dubbed the "Virgin Bachelor," Colton admitted that he did have "sexual experiences" with men prior to being on TV - though he maintains it was "not sex."
“I’ll say this," he said with a long pause before he continued: "I was ‘the Virgin Bachelor.'
"But I did experiment with men prior to being on The Bachelorette.
“When I say ‘hookups,’ not sex, I want to make that very clear that I did not have sex with a man, prior to that."
He said he joined the dating app Grindr under an alias sometime between 2016 and 2017.
While he stated he's currently single, he claimed he is no longer on the platform.
The Denver native was then asked about his tumultuous breakup with ex, Cassie Randolph - who filed a restraining order against Colton last year as she accused him of “stalking” and placing a tracking device on her car.
He claimed he wanted to “clear the air” due to seeing the term “abuse” often associated with his name.
“I did not physically touch or physically abuse Cassie in any way, shape or form,” he alleged.
“I never want people to think that I’m coming out to change the narrative, or to brush over and not take responsibility for my actions, and now that I have this gay life that I don’t have to address my past as a straight man.
“Controlling situations to try to grasp at any part of the straight fantasy that I was trying to live out was so wrong.”
However, he said he cannot go into further detail due to a “joint agreement” with his ex girlfriend of nearly two years.
In April, the TV personality came out as gay during an interview with Robin Roberts on Good Morning America.
With his voice trembling, he told the news anchor: "I ran from myself for a long time and hated myself for a long time and I'm gay.
"I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it
the next step, letting people know… I'm still nervous. It's been a journey for sure..."
Colton became a household name after he participated in Becca Kufrin's season of The Bachelorette before he was eliminated.
He then competed in Bachelor In Paradise - where he was also shown an early exit after breaking down in tears and saying he "couldn't do" it anymore.
However, producers would give him his own Bachelor season, where he went home with Cassie - but without an engagement.
The two later split in a messy break-up in 2020 - where plenty of chaos occurred afterwards.
Cassie filed a restraining order and accused Colton of placing a tracking device on her car, harassing and stalking her and showing up at her parents' property uninvited in late hours of the night.
The Huntington Beach resident would later drop the restraining order and has yet to publicly comment on the matter.
She seemingly hinted at her ex's big news shortly after his announcement.
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Taking to her Instagram Stories, she wrote: "Thank you everyone for the kind comments and messages.
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"It means so much. And yes, some of you are asking about my YouTube for this week.
"I decided to take the week off, but will have one again next week!!”
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