Hard at work! Colton Underwood’s new reality series will feature Olympian Gus Kenworthy, Us Weekly can confirm.
The freestyle skier, 29, has been helping Underwood, also 29, with his coming out process and adapting to his new lifestyle, a source tells Us.
The former Bachelor was spotted shooting scenes for his new Netflix show alongside his dad, Scott, and Kenworthy, ahead of his appearance on Good Morning America on Wednesday, April 14, when he revealed that he is gay.
“Obviously this year’s been a lot for a lot of people, and it’s probably when a lot of people look at themselves in the mirror and figure out what they’ve been running from and what they’ve been putting off in their lives. I ran from myself for a long time,” Underwood told GMA’s Robin Roberts. “I hated myself for a long time. I’m gay, and I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it. The next step in all of this was sort of letting people know.”
The former football player, who first joined Bachelor Nation in 2018 when competing for Becca Kufrin’s heart on season 14 of The Bachelorette, explained it took overcoming a “dark” time in his personal life before he could speak his truth.
The reality star, who split from Cassie Randolph in May 2020 after meeting on season 23 of The Bachelor, admitted that he dealt with suicidal thoughts before being open about his sexuality.
“I think overall the reason why now is because I got to a place where I didn’t think I was ever going to share this. I would have rather died than say, ‘I’m gay,’” he said, adding that he’s now the “happiest and healthiest” he’s ever been.
Shortly after making headlines for coming out, the New York Post’s Page Six published photos of Underwood with Kenworthy walking around the Big Apple earlier in the week. The snaps showed the duo smiling alongside Underwood’s dad as they filmed for the upcoming series in front of a Citipups store.
Kenworthy, for his part, is no stranger to being in the limelight for his athletic talents and for speaking out about his sexuality. In 2015, the British-American skier revealed that he is gay during an interview with ESPN.
Three years later, the silver medalist exclusively told Us how his coming out journey impacted his professional skiing career as he competed in his second Olympic games.
“After I came out, that weight was lifted off my shoulders,” Kenworthy said in February 2018. “And now I’m so happy to be here, competing as my authentic self, at the Olympics as an openly gay athlete. I think the Olympics are a time for the world to come together and put aside differences, but we’re also coming to represent ourselves, our communities and our countries, so I think it’s important to stand up and be a voice.”
Scroll down to learn more about Underwood’s new series and what role Kenworthy will play in it.
