Netflix cameras followed former professional football player and the former Bachelor Colton Underwood last year as he opened up about his sexuality to his parents, brother, friends, church community and eventually coming out on public television.
Coming Out Colton, Premieres on Netflix Friday, December 3 for six episodes. In a teaser trailer that was released, Underwood is seen being mentored by gay Olympic athlete Gus Kenworthy and telling him, “I never thought I’d come out. I thought I was gonna die with this secret.”
Underwood goes on to say, “The reason I’m coming out is I’m ashamed and sort of mortified by what got me into this position in the first place.”
Also in the trailer, Colton is coming out to his dad Scott in what seems like to be the most dramatic scene in his story.
“I’m not saying I’m upset about it, but I would have preferred it had been done differently,” Scott told The New York Times, referring to his 29-year-old son coming out to him on a fishing trip while cameras were rolling.
Scott added that his son is “an entertainer,” telling the outlet, “Let’s face it — that’s what he’s chosen to do for his career.”
Reality TV fans met Colton on Becca Kufrin’s season 14 of The Bachelorette in 2018. After a stint on Bachelor in Paradise season 5, he was named the season 23 Bachelor and dated winner Cassie Randolph for nearly two years. Jenkins confirmed to the NYT that the series was initially pitched as a show for Colton and Randolph, 25, before their split.
Colton’s profile as a football star and then primetime TV heartthrob is all the reason why the docuseries is important for advancing acceptance and inclusion of the gay community, especially among the conservative Christian community of which he came from and to which he was speaking on his rise to stardom. His story, headlined in the promo in sentences like ‘I didn’t want to be gay,’ can raise curiosity in people that otherwise hate and reject the LGBT community, and that is all the more reason why it’s important to be told.
“We saw the positive of him sharing his story,” show producer Jeff Jenkins, who also produced the I Am Cait docuseries, said. “He already has fame and — not to speak out of turn — but this documentary is not going to make him rich.”