Colton Scott Brown-Underwood (born January 26, 1992) is an American reality television personality and former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player. He played defensive end at Illinois State and was signed by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2014, and was on the practice squads of the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

and Philadelphia Eagles. After being released by the Raiders, Underwood became a contestant on the 14th season of '' The Bachelorette'', and was then announced as the lead of the 23rd season of '' The Bachelor''. He is the first lead in ''Bachelor'' franchise history to

come out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as gay.

Early life and education

Underwood was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Scott and Donna Underwood. Both of his parents were star athletes at Illinois State University: Scott played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the Illinois State Redbirds and Donna played volleyball. Scott and Colton both attended Washington Community High School; Colton graduated in 2010. Colton has a younger brother named Connor. He was raised as Catholic. Colton Underwood graduated from Illinois State University, where he followed his father's footsteps to play college football for the Redbirds.

Career

Football

On May 10, 2014, Underwood was signed as an undrafted free agent by the

. On August 30, 2014, he was waived. On September 3, 2014, Underwood was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles' practice squad. On September 9, 2014, he was released from practice squad. On September 23, 2014, Underwood returned to the Chargers and was signed to their practice squad. On December 29, 2014, he signed a future contract. On September 5, 2015, he was waived. On September 6, 2015, he was placed on injured reserve. On September 10, 2015, he was waived from injured reserve. On December 1, 2015, Underwood was signed to the

' practice squad. On August 29, 2016, he was released by the Raiders.

Reality television

Underwood was a contestant on the 14th season of '' The Bachelorette'', starring Becca Kufrin. After getting eliminated in week 8 after hometown dates, Underwood was cast in season 5 of ''Bachelor in Paradise''. After being linked to fellow contestant Tia Booth, Underwood broke up with her, and both left Paradise separately in the fourth week. On September 4, 2018, ABC announced that Underwood would star in the 23rd season of '' The Bachelor''. The announcement received mixed reactions on social media. On September 21, 2018, ABC announced that Colton had started filming ''The Bachelor'' and had already met three of his contestants on '' The Ellen DeGeneres Show''. On April 14, 2021, '' Variety'' reported that Underwood was in production for his own unscripted series at Netflix. The six-episode series, '' Coming Out Colton'', premiered on Netflix on December 3, 2021. In the series, he meets with other openly gay public figures, including Gus Kenworthy, Michael Sam, and CMT host Cody Alan.

Philanthropy

In January 2016, Underwood founded the Colton Underwood Legacy Foundation to raise money for

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...

research and medical equipment. Underwood started the foundation after his cousin Harper was diagnosed with the disease. In January 2018, the foundation began the Legacy Project, with the goal of delivering AffloVests, chest wall oscillation devices which clear excess mucus from lung airways as part of the daily treatment for cystic fibrosis, to children in 50 US states.

Personal life

From 2016 to 2017, Underwood dated gymnast Aly Raisman after he asked her out in a video. Underwood has spoken publicly about his choice to remain a virgin, and how appearing on ''The Bachelorette'' helped him discuss the topic. He began dating speech pathology student Cassie Randolph after meeting her on season 23 of '' The Bachelor''. When Randolph initially ended their relationship during the final three, Underwood broke up with the other two women and asked Randolph for a second chance without the pressure of an engagement. Underwood and Randolph were in a relationship from November 2018 until May 2020. In March 2020, Underwood tested positive for COVID-19, though he recovered in April. In September 2020, Randolph filed a

restraining order A restraining order or protective order, is an order used by a court to protect a person in a situation involving alleged domestic violence, child abuse, assault, harassment, stalking, or sexual assault. Restraining and personal protection or ...

against Underwood, alleging that he

stalked Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The term ...

her outside her Los Angeles apartment and her parents' Huntington Beach house, sent harassing text messages using an anonymous number, and installed a tracking device underneath her car. Randolph was granted a temporary restraining order against Underwood ahead of the October hearing. Randolph dropped the restraining order in November, and Underwood stated "I do not believe Cassie did anything wrong in filing for the restraining orders and also believe she acted in good faith." He identifies himself as a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Coming out

On April 14, 2021, Underwood publicly came out as gay in an interview with Robin Roberts on ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

'', making him the first lead in the Bachelor franchise to come out as gay. In an interview with '' Variety'', Underwood stated that he was blackmailed into coming out. An anonymous man, claiming to be a fan, took a picture of Underwood nude at a gay sauna in Los Angeles in 2019. The man sent Underwood an email threatening to out him to the press. Underwood forwarded the email to his publicist, and this caused him to come out publicly. During the interview, Underwood also stated that he experimented with men before appearing on ''The Bachelor'' franchise, stating he used the dating app Grindr under an alias from 2016 to 2017. On September 1, 2021, Underwood was reported to be dating

Democratic Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

strategist Jordan C. Brown after the two were spotted vacationing together in Hawaii, which he confirmed in December 2021 in a birthday post for Brown. In February 2022, Underwood confirmed that he and Brown had gotten engaged shortly after his 30th birthday the previous month. On May 13, 2023, Brown and Underwood were married.

Filmography

Television

Music video

Awards and nominations

Books

*''The First Time: Finding Myself and Looking for Love on Reality TV'' ( Gallery Books, 2020). .

References

External links

* Archive o
Colton Underwood
at

official website. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Underwood, Colton 1992 births Living people 21st-century American LGBT people American football linebackers Bachelor Nation contestants Gay sportsmen Illinois State Redbirds football players LGBT people from Indiana LGBT players of American football American LGBT sportspeople LGBT Christians American Roman Catholics Oakland Raiders players Philadelphia Eagles players Players of American football from Indianapolis San Diego Chargers players Participants in American reality television series