{"id":2463886,"date":"2026-06-17T15:11:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T15:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2463886"},"modified":"2026-06-17T15:11:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T15:11:52","slug":"colton-underwood-hooked-up-with-married-men-before-the-bachelor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/colton-underwood-hooked-up-with-married-men-before-the-bachelor\/","title":{"rendered":"Colton Underwood ‘Hooked Up’ With Married Men Before The Bachelor"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Colton Underwood<\/strong><\/a> is opening up about navigating his sexuality before he publicly came out as gay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was very careful, even when I was physically experimenting with guys and trying to, like, figure myself out,\u201d Underwood, 34, said during the Tuesday, June 16, episode of the \u201cWe Need to Talk<\/a>\u201d podcast. \u201cI was so careful on how I did everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former NFL player continued, \u201cTo protect myself, I would only hook up with married men. [Married] \u2018straight\u2019 men. So that was sort of my rule that I would never break. When I was in the closet, that would be the only time I would ever hook up with men was if they were married \u2026 because they had more to lose than I did.\u201d<\/p>\n

The way Underwood saw it, hooking up with married men meant that they couldn\u2019t \u201cruin his career\u201d because they \u201chad a whole family that they\u2019d be risking as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Colton Underwood Through the Years<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tFrom playing football to joining Bachelor Nation, Colton Underwood has shared all aspects of his life with fans over the years. Underwood followed in his father\u2019s footsteps by playing college football at Illinois State University. Between 2014 and 2016, he was briefly signed to the San Diego Chargers, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Oakland Raiders. [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s a messed up thing to think through, but like, it was a form of self-[preservation] \u2026 it was just like a way to protect myself,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n

Underwood previously clarified in a 2021 interview with Variety that he did not have sex with the men.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I say \u2018hookups,\u2019 not sex,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to make that very clear that I did not have sex with a man, prior to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Underwood first appeared on The Bachelorette<\/em> season 14 to vie for Becca Kufrin\u2019s heart before leading his own season of The Bachelor<\/em> in 2019, when he was 26 years old. The reality star was famously labeled \u201cThe Virgin Bachelor\u201d at the time, as his virginity was a heavily marketed story line on the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember I always got asked why I was a virgin,\u201d Underwood recalled on Tuesday. \u201cSo that was the story line that they wanted to run with, and I hated it \u2019cause I didn\u2019t want that pressure, and then I also didn\u2019t want people digging in, because at that time, I had hooked up with men.\u201d<\/p>\n

Underwood added that he wished he \u201cwould have been a little bit more vulnerable about just talking about my struggle with my sexuality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there could have been something just interesting in that conversation,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Colton Underwood and Husband Jordan C. Brown’s Relationship Timeline<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tColton Underwood was once scared to be his true self, but he found love with now-husband Jordan C. Brown after embracing his identity. Bachelor Nation first met the former NFL player when he competed on Becca Kufrin\u2019s season 14 of The Bachelorette in 2018 before moving on to season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise. After [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Traitors alum said he didn\u2019t intend to discuss his virginity on the show, but he ultimately brought it up on the first night of The Bachelorette.<\/p>\n

\u201cI opened it up immediately, and I just gave them everything which they loved,\u201d he shared. \u201cSo that\u2019s unfortunately how it sort of came to be, and then it became my entire story line. There were so many reasons why I was a virgin. Like, it was my faith. Obviously, the one that I didn\u2019t tell publicly was my struggle with my sexuality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Underwood admitted that he convinced himself he would be able to change his identity.<\/p>\n

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