Colton Underwood once prayed God would \u201ctake the gay away\u201d as he struggled to come to terms with his sexuality. Now his relationship with God is closer than ever.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to wake up in the morning and pray for Him to take the gay away. I used to pray for Him to change me,\u201d Underwood told Robin Roberts during his \u201cGood Morning America\u201d interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can now wake up and pray to God, and I can have faith, and I can go into church and be present and not have it be conditional on this topic of, \u2018Take this off my plate, and I\u2019ll still worship you, and I\u2019ll still be there.\u201d\u2026That\u2019s helped, to be honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Underwood, who identifies as Catholic, told Roberts he came to terms with his sexuality earlier this year. He\u2019s been \u201cprocessing\u201d it and is the \u201chappiest and healthiest he has ever been\u201d in his life.<\/p>\n
He knew it was time for him to come out and speak his truth.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got into a place for me in my personal life that was dark and bad, and I can list a bunch of different things, but they\u2019d be excuses,\u201d Underwood said. \u201cI think, overall, the reason now is because I got to a place where I didn\u2019t think I was ever going to share this. I would\u2019ve rather died than say, \u2018I\u2019m gay,\u2019 and I think that was sort of my wake-up call.\u201d<\/p>\n
Now that he\u2019s come out to his friends and family, his relationship with God has become much stronger.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got closer to God this year,\u201d he said. \u201cI know even saying that now as a gay man, people are going to be like, \u2018How is that even possible?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The former \u201cBachelor\u201d star made headlines in 2019 for being a virgin when he first appeared on the show. He dated the series contestant Cassie Randolph from March 2019 until May 2020 before the pair broke up.<\/p>\n
Underwood says he\u2019s apologized to Randolph about the ways things ended admitting he made \u201ca lot of bad choices.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told the GMA host that he was in love with Randolph, which \u201conly made it harder and more confusing\u201d for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m being very honest,\u201d Underwood said. \u201cI loved everything about her. And it\u2019s hard for me to articulate exactly what my emotions were going through that relationship with her because I obviously had an internal fight going on.\u201d<\/p>\n
The producers of \u201cThe Bachelor\u201d franchise say they are inspired by Underwood\u2019s courage to embrace his authentic self. They added, \u201cAs firm believers in the power of love, we celebrate Colton\u2019s journey in the LGBTQUIA+ community every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can watch the GMA interview in the video below.<\/p>\n