“Bachelor in Paradise” student Tia Booth once again clapped against the social media trolls who called her to keep quiet after her ex Colton Underwood was gay.
“@Coltonunderwood knows how I feel. Love who you want to love, ”Booth, 29, wrote in her Instagram story Thursday along with screenshots of messages she received from Bachelor Nation fans urging her to speak out.
“It simply came to our notice then. I’m my own public relations team, goodbye, ”the physiotherapist joked in her message, which featured the song by TI and Rihanna“ Live Your Life ”.
Underwood, 29, spoke about his sexual orientation for the first time during a candid “Good Morning America” interview with Robin Roberts that aired Wednesday.
“I ran away from myself for a long time. I’ve been hating myself for a long time, “he said. “And I’m gay. And I accepted it earlier this year and I’ve been processing it. And the next step was to inform people. “
The former football player joined Bachelor Nation in 2018 when he competed in Becca Kufrin’s season of “The Bachelorette”. Before entering the show, he exchanged DM with Booth, but their friendship did not have a romantic twist until they competed in season 5 of “Bachelor in Paradise” later that year. Their relationship ended up being ephemeral.
“We were better as friends and we’ve stayed as friends,” Underwood wrote in his 2020 memoirs, “The First Time,” in which he called Booth one of his “most trusted confidants” to date.
After his stint in the derivation of the Mexican set, ABC named the season 23 athlete “Bachelor,” making him the first virgin leader in the franchise. Ultimately, she chose Cassie Randolph as the winner, but did not nominate her during the March 2019 final.
Underwood and the 25-year-old speech therapist continued to go off-screen for more than a year before announcing their separation in May 2020. He obtained a restraining order against him in September, claiming he had harassed her. and tracked his car. Randolph withdrew the order in November, as Underwood revealed that they had reached a “private agreement.”