Colton Underwood says he thanked God for 'making me straight' after landing lead role on 'The Bachelor'

• Former "Bachelor" star Colton Underwood said he once thanked God for "making me straight."
• Underwood, who starred on season 23 of "The Bachelor," publicly came out as gay on Wednesday.
• But the reality star said he saw his stint on the dating show as a chance to hide his sexuality.

Colton Underwood revealed in a recent interview that he thanked God for "making me straight" after landing the lead role on season 23 of "The Bachelor."

Speaking to Robin Roberts on "Good Morning America," Underwood came out as gay but said he struggled to accept his sexuality for a long time - even after being cast as the lead on the reality dating show.

"I literally remember praying to God the morning I found out I was the Bachelor and thanking him for making me straight," Underwood told Roberts.

"I remember that vividly, of saying like, 'Finally, you're letting me be straight. Finally, you're giving me a wife, a fiancée,'" he continued. "And then I'm gonna have the kids, and then I'm gonna have the house."

"I've known that I've been different since the age of six," Underwood added. "And I couldn't process it and I couldn't put my finger on what it was until high school, my freshman year, when I knew I was gay."

According to the reality star, his Catholic education, combined with the attitudes of his peers growing up, caused him to view his sexuality in a negative light and repress it for years.

"There's a lot of things when I look back, I'm like, 'No wonder I held it in,'" Underwood said.

The executive producers of "The Bachelor" franchise praised Underwood's decision to come out in a statement to Insider.

"We are so inspired by Colton Underwood's courage to embrace and pursue his authentic self," the statement read. "As firm believers in the power of love, we celebrate Colton's journey in the LGBTQIA+ community every step of the way."

After competing on Becca Kufrin's season of "The Bachelorette," where he was eliminated in week eight, Underwood was cast as the lead on season 23 of "The Bachelor."

During his time on the show, Underwood pursued a relationship with contestant Cassie Randolph, who broke things off with him during the final few weeks of filming, leading to several dramatic moments.

Underwood subsequently ended his relationships with the other women and asked Randolph for a relationship again, this time without the expectation of getting engaged.

The two dated from November 2018 to April 2020. Following their break up, Randolph filed a restraining order against Underwood, saying that he'd been "stalking" her and had even planted a tracking device on her car.

This isn't the first time Underwood has spoken about questioning his sexuality, though he'd previously publicly denied being gay.

In a March 2020 interview, he told Lauren Zima on "Entertainment Tonight" that appearing on the reality dating show helped him figure out "that I'm straight and I'm very, very attracted to Cassie, and women."

"But it would have been OK if it would have been the other way too," Underwood said at the time. "I think that's the biggest message I have for people."