Colton Underwood has shared his idea for a gay Bachelor season in a new interview.
Since its inception nearly two decades ago, the popular dating show has become a reality TV mainstay, spawning successful spinoffs – The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise – and earning praise for its signature romantic formula.
However, in recent years, many LGBTQIA+ viewers have called out the show for not featuring a queer lead.
While a gay season of The Bachelor has yet to arrive on our TV screens, a handful of former contestants have come out as members of the community, like Underwood.
The former football player first appeared in The Bachelorette season 14 before leading the 23rd season of The Bachelor.
During a recent appearance on the Boyfriend Material podcast, Underwood shared his opinion on a potential gay Bachelor season after host Harry Jowsey brought up the Australian franchise’s recent three-lead structure.
“See, that’s what I want to do… everybody keeps saying, ‘Will The Bachelor ever do a gay Bachelor?’ And my response is always, ‘I think it’s lazy to always put that on The Bachelor franchise’. But I do think there’s a version in which if we had three bachelors at the same time, you can represent our community as a whole,” he said.
“It’s hard to represent the gay community with one singular person. Everybody’s so picky they have types. Also, our community is so diverse… And I think it makes for a dramatic and messy season.”
While Underwood teased his idea for the show’s structure – i.e. splitting the contestants and leads into pods – he refrained from sharing further details of his pitch.
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“No, because they’re going to just steal it and put it on air and not credit me. I already know how this goes. I’ve been burned by it before. They have my cell phone number and my agent’s number,” he continued.
Underwood’s recent interview comes a few months after he revealed that he’s spoken to a few Bachelor producers about a potential gay iteration.
“Yeah, I’ve had talks with some of the producers, but I think beyond just The Bachelor, there are so many other incredible dating shows that might even be more well-equipped format-wise,” he told Entertainment Weekly.
“I think when you think about the format of The Bachelor, it’s tricky and hard. Our community is so diverse, and we play by different rules, and I mean that with all the love and respect, and I think there’s other shows like Love is Blind and The Ultimatum that you saw did a queer season,” he explained.
Despite The Bachelor’s lack of queer leads, there has been a steady increase in LGBTQIA+ inclusion within the dating show genre.
In the UK, BBC Three dropped the I Kissed a Boy and I Kissed a Girl series, which has earned universal acclaim from critics and viewers.
Ex On The Beach, Are You The One and Dating Around have also featured LGBTQIA+ contestants searching for love.
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