Colton Underwood has shared a lot about himself in recent weeks, but the “Bachelor” star has his limits.
About a month after coming forward as gay on “Good Morning America,” Underwood hosted a fan Q&A on Instagram, during which he refused to respond to a participant’s “inappropriate” question about his sex life. When asked how many men he had hooked up with, Underwood made clear that he would not tolerate such invasive inquiries going forward.
“Let me vent for a second,” he wrote this weekend on his Instagram story, according to People. “Questions like this are inappropriate. I understand you might know me from the bachelor where I shared a lot about my personal life. I have set boundaries and I’m respecting myself in a way that will lead me to a healthier life.”
During the 23rd season of ABC’s hit dating competition, Underwood was known to audiences as “the virgin Bachelor.” While opening up to “GMA” anchor Robin Roberts last month, Underwood said he chose to remain a virgin while on the show as a way to process his sexuality.
“I never asked to be labeled as the virgin bachelor and have people feel the security to ask me questions about my sex life,” he continued in his Instagram statement, which has since been deleted.
“It just happened and during that time I thought I had no other choice but to just go with it [or] the network would be mad. I know differently now. I’ll share what I want and this won’t be one of those things.”
Underwood’s Instagram Q&A comes shortly after the former professional football player told Variety he was blackmailed into coming out publicly by someone who claimed to possess photos of him visiting a spa known for catering to a gay clientele.
He also confirmed longstanding rumors that a documentary series centering on his coming-out journey is in the works at Netflix, which has sparked a backlash stemming from a controversy involving Underwood’s ex-girlfriend, Cassie Randolph.
After Underwood presented his “final rose” to Randolph during Season 23 of “The Bachelor,” the pair dated outside the ABC program and eventually split in 2020. Amid their high-profile breakup, Randolph filed a restraining order against Underwood that she later dropped.
According to TMZ, Randolph had accused Underwood of stalking and harassing her with disturbing text messages, attaching a tracking device to her car, appearing uninvited at her L.A. apartment and lurking around her parents’ Huntington Beach home.
Citing the stalking and harassment allegations leveled by Randolph in court documents, more than 35,000 people have signed a Change.org campaign condemning Netflix for working with Underwood, whom they feel “does not deserve a platform in any way. Regardless of his sexuality.”
“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,” Underwood told Variety in response to the criticism.
“Controlling situations to try to grasp at any part of the straight fantasy that I was trying to live out was so wrong.”
