Colton Underwood opens up about his ‘homoerotic’ locker room experiences

Colton Underwood detailed coming to terms with his sexuality, from ‘homoerotic’ locker room experiences to being a virgin on The single person.

The TV personality recently appeared on Alexandra Cooper’s hit podcast Call her daddy, where he shared more details about his coming out journey.

Underwood told the host that he “knew” he was “different” from the age of six: “I wasn’t like other kids. I wasn’t like the other boys in my class.

“And I wasn’t really able to understand that until high school, to realize that, ‘Hey, I’m attracted to men.'”

He went on to explain that, as a result of attending a Catholic school, he was taught heteronormative ideals such as “boys were supposed to like girls, and girls were supposed to like boys.”

Before playing in The single person, Underwood was a professional football player for Illinois State, before being signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent.

Due to the lack of football players at the time (and still today), he did not feel comfortable speaking openly about his sexuality with his teammates, saying he did not want to be a “distraction » for them or their coach. .

“And the other players in the locker room weren’t very friendly,” he recalls. “The locker room is extremely homophobic, but it’s also very homoerotic.

“It’s like slapping yourself, commenting on other people’s dicks, and then all of a sudden being called a f*g and a fag and all these derogatory (words). You say to yourself, “Wait…wait.

“Especially for someone in the closet, you’re like, ‘This is really messed up.'”

After Cooper asked Underwood to expand on his locker room experiences, he said he ‘hid’ a lot: ‘I didn’t shower after practice because I was afraid of getting horny in the locker room or in the shower. »

Although he said he wasn’t attracted to any of his teammates, he wanted to avoid any chance of being outed, “so he wouldn’t shower with the rest of the team.” I left, changed in a corner or a stand.

In addition to locker rooms, he avoided partying, saying he wouldn’t drink at his own parties because he was “afraid that if I got drunk I’d be gay.”

Underwood later appeared in the 14th season of The Bachelorette, before directing the 23rd season of The single person. During his time on the franchise, he was known as the “Virgin Bachelor.”

However, he admitted to Cooper that he met another man for the first time on his 21st birthday.

“I only dated men when I was single. There was never a time when I was committed to a serious relationship,” he said, before sharing that he feared former male sexual partners would report him while he was in relationship. The single person.

“I was terrified of being The Bachelor because I was like, ‘Oh my God, now my face is plastered everywhere. (…) There was a lot of anxiety and sleepless nights. Either I was lucky or I was very careful.

Underwood continued: “To be honest with you, a lot of the men I dated were also ‘straight’ in their real lives.

“They were pretty closeted themselves. So I don’t think a man who would pick me up because he would do that too.

“It wasn’t a ton of men. A few never had my real name. (That’s how) everything was scary and secretive.

Underwood publicly came out as gay in 2021, making history as the first lead actor in The single person franchise to do so. The same year, he directed his own Netflix series Take out Colton.

After a two-year relationship, he married Democratic Party political strategist Jordan C. Brown in May 2023. Earlier this year, the couple announced they were expecting their first child.

In a statement, Underwood described his journey to fatherhood as a “roller coaster of emotions – humbling, exciting and truly eye-opening.”

“I couldn’t be more excited to welcome our baby boy and really be able to hug ‘Daddy’ in a whole new way,” he said.

“Jordan and I look forward to all the little moments, like holding him, feeding him, and changing him. But most of all, we’re so excited to show him how loved he already is.

You can listen to Colton Underwood’s full interview with Alexandra Cooper at Call her daddy below.