Former ‘Bachelor’ star Colton Underwood comes out as gay

Former “Bachelor” star Colton Underwood has come out as gay in an emotional interview on “Good Morning America,” Wednesday morning.

The 29-year-old former lead of ABC’s “The Bachelor” made the candid admission to Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts in a sit-down interview.

“I’ve ran from myself for a long time. I’ve hated myself for a long time,” Underwood told Roberts in the pre-taped interview. “And I’m gay. And I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it. And the next step in all of this was sort of letting people know.”

Underwood, who was cast as the lead on season 23 of the reality TV show, has undergone scrutiny over the past two years. His admission on “Good Morning America” on Wednesday comes just months after his ex-girlfriend from the show, Cassie Randolph, filed a restraining order against Underwood due to alleged harassment and stalking. She ultimately dropped the order in November of last year.

Underwood says he finally got to a place where he could be honest with himself after 2020, the year that turned everyone’s lives upside down and made people “look at themselves in the mirror and figure out who they are and what they’ve been running from or what they’ve been putting off in their lives.”

Now, Underwood plans to take his next steps day by day and told Roberts he is ready to live his truth.

“I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life,” says Underwood. “That means the world to me.”