Colton Underwood  hooked up  with  married straight men  before his time on the  Bachelor  franchise.

 To protect myself, I would only hook up with married men. [Married]  straight' men,  he explained during his Tuesday appearance on the  We Need To Talk  podcast.

 So that was sort of my rule that I would never break. When I was in the closet, that would be the only time I would ever hook up with men was if they were married … because they had more to lose than I did.

10 Colton Underwood admitted that he  hooked up  with  married straight men  before his time on the  Bachelor  franchise. We Need To Talk/ Youtube

10 The reality star (seen above in March) explained that he only  experimented  with men who were married as a way to  protect  himself from being outed as gay on the  We Need To Talk  podcast. We Need To Talk/ Youtube

 I was very careful, even when I was physically experimenting with guys and trying to, like, figure myself out,  Underwood explained, noting that he did so because he was terrified of being outed as gay.

 So if they tried to, you know, ruin my career and my life for football, they had a whole family that they'd be risking as well,  Underwood continued.  So it's a messed up thing to think through, but like it was a form of self [preservation]… it was just like a way to protect myself. 

The former NFL player joined Bachelor Nation for Becca Kufrin's season of  The Bachelorette  before becoming the  Bachelor  in 2019.

10  When I was in the closet, that would be the only time I would ever hook up with men was if they were married… because they had more to lose than I did.  WireImage

10  So it's a messed up thing to think through, but like it was a form of self [preservation]… it was just like a way to protect myself.  Disney via Getty Images

While his season as the lead was being promoted on ABC, he was dubbed the first  Virgin Bachelor. 

 I remember I always got asked why I was a virgin. So that was the storyline that they wanted to run with, and I hated it 'cause I didn't want that pressure, and then I also didn't want people digging in because at that time

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