Less than a year after coming out as gay, former Bachelor Star Colton Underwood has announced his engagement to political strategist Jordan C. Brown.
“I’m extremely happy!” Underwood told People. “2021 was the most transformative year of my life. Starting 2022 off with my best friend, teammate and now fiancé is something I never thought was going to be possible.”
Related: George Takei says he was racked with guilt for staying in the closet as long as he did
The pair got engaged during a trip to Big Sur, California.
“I couldn’t have pictured a more beautiful place to celebrate an amazing milestone in my life and relationship,” he said.
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Underwood also celebrated the news on Instagram, writing, “life is going to be fun with you,” beside a photo of him and Brown smiling from ear to ear.
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Underwood, who is also a former NFL player, came out in April on Good Morning America.
“I learned in the Bible that gay is a sin,” he explained, adding that he heard a lot of homophobic insults in school sports. This drove him deeper into the closet and he said that he thought he would never come out.
“I was driving my car close to a cliff, thinking ‘If this goes off the cliff, it’s not that big of a deal,’” he recounted, referring to how he knew he had to come out. “I don’t feel that anymore.”
Despite this boldness, he himself has also stirred up controversy since coming out.
His new show, Coming out Colton, has not been received with open arms by the LGBTQ community. Many quickly condemned the show, bringing up allegations of abuse against Colton and the mention of stalking in a restraining order petition filed by Cassie Randolph, a “winning” Bachelor contestant and Underwood’s former girlfriend. Tens of thousands of people called on Netflix to pull the plug on the series.
Underwood apologized to Randolph on Good Morning America.
Many on gay Twitter were also not impressed with the content of the series, in which Out Olympian Gus Kenworthy serves as Underwood’s “guide” to being gay. The series was quickly derided as “opportunistic” and offensive, as it was announced the same day that he came out on Good Morning America and led to insinuations that he came out just to advance his career. Others have said that no one wants to watch another show about a wealthy, muscular, white gay man.
