Colton Underwood Responds to Michael Rapaport's Comments About His Sexuality
- - Colton Underwood Responds to Michael Rapaport's Comments About His Sexuality
Grace GalanteJanuary 17, 2026 at 9:02 PM
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Euan Cherry/PEACOCK
Colton Underwood is responding to Michael Rapaport seemingly commenting on his sexuality during the latest episode of The Traitors.
During the roundtable, Rapaport implied Underwood could be a traitor as he hid his sexuality for a number of years. Underwood, who is gay, publicly came out in April 2021 at the age of 29.
“Nobody in this room would be better at holding a secret than you,” Rapaport said.
“There it is. You think it was fun for 29 years of my life?” Underwood responded, before fellow contestants came to his defense.
“I’m not talking about closets! His behavior is of a traitor. His behavior is secretive, it’s conniving, it’s chirping, it’s commiserating, it’s cowardly,” Rapaport added.
RELATED: Michael Rapaport Under Fire for Comments About Colton Underwood’s Sexuality on ‘The Traitors’
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly published on Friday, Jan. 16, the former Bachelor revealed what his initial reaction was to Rapaport's comments.
"The coming-out process takes a long time, and I'm still very much in my coming-out process, so there's always little things here and there that sort of re-trigger old emotions," Underwood said. "I'm still working on how to process it, and I think you definitely see that come up and hit me. The reason I said yes to doing a show like The Traitors is it's not personal. The drama and the intensity of the show is always so game-focused, so I think that's what just threw me a little bit, is when it got personal and he was using me as a human being instead of my gameplay against me. That's what caught me off guard, and I think you felt that and saw it in the episode."
Underwood also shared what he thinks Rapaport's intentions were going into the roundtable.
"In the short time that I got to know Michael, he was self-aware enough. He's a fast talker, he's a slick talker, and he said it in one of his interviews, his mouth gets him in trouble," he said. "I grew up around those types of people. It's very much like a locker-room-style environment, and I think phrases and little digs and things towards the gay community get thrown out a lot in those type of environments. I'm at a point in my life where I'm definitely not sitting in that emotion. I don't feel like a victim at all. I know he's probably watching it back just with a little bit of regret on how he delivered it."
"I could just tell you how I took it, and I did take it that it was not in a gaming way and it was more of a personal dig at my past and what I went through and how I handled myself. I would be the first person to say I'm definitely not perfect, and I definitely made a lot of mistakes," he added. "But at this point in my life, it was five or six years ago when I first started the coming-out process, and I'm in just such a different phase of life with my family and professionally. A lot of therapy. The harder part is just putting myself back into that headspace of where I was at during my lowest."
Less than a year before coming out in 2021, Underwood broke up with the winner of his season of The Bachelor, Cassie Randolph. In September of that year, Randolph filed a restraining order against Underwood, alleging he put a tracking device on her vehicle, loitered outside her family’s home, and sent her threatening text messages — including ones where he allegedly pretended to be an anonymous stalker.
Randolph dropped her restraining order in November 2020 after she and Underwood were able to reach a private agreement.
EW noted they were not allowed to ask any questions regarding Randolph as a condition of the interview.
RELATED: ‘Bachelor’ Alum Demi Burnett Slams Colton Underwood Amid His Appearance on ‘The Traitors’
Though Rapaport claimed he was not referring to Underwood's sexual orientation, the group banished him anyway — with several contestants admitting they didn’t care if he was a Faithful or Traitor, they just wanted him gone.
Following his banishment, the actor offered an apology, saying, “I meant what I meant within the context of the game. It had nothing to do with his sexuality. I really, sincerely apologize if I offended Colton or anybody in the house. That absolutely wasn’t the intention.”
During the EW interview, Underwood revealed if he accepted Rapaport's apology or not.
"He apologized towards the end, like, 'I didn't mean it,' so I have to take him for his word. I'm not holding a grudge against him, but I do think it is important for me in my life at this point to start standing up for myself," he said. "I can only be a punching bag for so long. Even today, seeing some people's [and] fans of the show's comments towards me, I can only sit quiet for so long."
In an interview with TMZ published on Jan. 16, Rapaport said he spoke to Underwood again after filming wrapped and claimed they cleared the air.
“I did speak to him right after filming. We had a great man to man conversation and everything was very cool and respectful. I like him and wish him and his family the best,” Rapaport said.
Underwood, for his part, shared his perspective on their off-camera conversation.
"Him and I have exchanged a conversation that, for right now, is being kept private," he said. "And obviously we'll have to see each other again at the reunion. So there will definitely be a lot for us to talk about then. It's a very intense show. These fans are very intense."
New episodes of The Traitors release every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Peacock.
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This story was originally published by Parade on Jan 17, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
