“Bachelor” star Colton Underwood claimed he was “blackmailed” into coming out as gay publicly.
“I’ll just say it,” Underwood told Variety in an interview published Wednesday. “I, at one point, during my rock bottom and spiral, was getting blackmailed. Nobody knows I was blackmailed.”
Colton Underwood came out to his publicist after being blackmailed via an anonymous email from someone claiming to have naked photos of him at a spa catering to gay clientele. He was at the spa “just to look,” he says. https://t.co/gsrAcVPU1P
— Variety (@Variety) May 12, 2021
Underwood admitted someone claimed to have photos of him visiting a spa “catering to gay clientele” in the interview. The anonymous person allegedly had nude photos of Underwood at the spa and threatened to send them to the press, Variety reported. (RELATED: The Bachelor’s Colton Underwood Receives Pushback For His Netflix Show After Coming Out As Gay)
Underwood originally announced his sexuality during an interview on the “TODAY” show in April.
“I’ve ran from myself for a long time,” Underwood said in the interview. “I’ve hated myself for a long time, and I’m gay. I came to terms with that earlier this year and trying to process it. I’m emotional but in such a good happy positive way. I’m happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life.”
Underwood admitted he had struggled with his sexuality and had reached a place in his “personal life that was dark and bad.”
“I think overall the reason why now, is because I got to place that I don’t think I was ever going to share this. I think I would rather die than say I’m gay,” the former reality star said.