Colton Underwood, the former football player and Bachelor franchise personality, has come out as gay.

Underwood, 29, made news in an interview Wednesday with Robin Roberts for Good Morning America.

“Obviously this year’s been a lot for a lot of people, and it’s probably made a lot of people look themselves in the mirror and figure out who they are and what they’ve been running from,” Underwood said. “I’ve ran from myself for a long time and hated myself for a long time. I’m gay. I came to terms with that earlier this year, and I’ve been processing it. The next step in all of this was letting people know.”

Underwood added that prior to coming out, he was in a “dark and bad” place in his personal life, where he “would’ve rather died than say ‘I’m gay.'” However, he said that he now feels emotional in “such a good, happy, positive way.”

“I’m the happiest and healthiest I’ve ever been in my life and, that means the world to me,” Underwood said.

After being a contestant in Becca Kufrin’s season of The Bachelorette in 2018, Underwood appeared in the fifth season of Bachelor in Paradise. It was then announced that he would star as the lead in the 23rd season of The Bachelor.

Underwood, who had previously been romantically involved with Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman before his reality TV stint, has left quite an impact on social media. First, he caused a stir when he admitted on The Bachelorette that he was a virgin, to which Kufrin infamously responded: “I need a moment.”

Then, during his season of the Bachelor, Underwood became an instant Twitter meme when he broke down and literally jumped the fence of the Bachelor Mansion. I respect the drama and the opportunistic utilization of his football player physique.

Fence Jump – The Bachelorwww.youtube.com

Then, last September, it was reported that Cassie Randolph — whom Underwood dated for a year and a half after meeting on The Bachelor — had been granted a temporary restraining order against him, after she alleged he had been stalking her and attached a tracking device to her car. Don’t worry, guys; he’s not crazy after all! He was just gay all along! (Obviously kidding — he could be both!)

In conclusion: I don’t condone stalking, everybody has to be slightly insane to audition for The Bachelor, and Billy Eichner has an impeccable gaydar. I wish Underwood the best in being his true gay self.