Colton Underwood has spent years navigating public perception, but on a recent episode of Sony Music Entertainment’s Dinner’s On Me podcast, the former NFL player and reality TV alum sounds grounded, reflective, and unexpectedly funny. Joining host Jesse Tyler Ferguson over breakfast at The Butcher’s Daughter in West Hollywood, Underwood peeled back the layers on The Traitors, his past on The Bachelor, and the complicated road to living openly.
Playing the Game and Playing It Loud
Underwood entered The Traitors with a mindset that leaned toward visibility rather than subtlety. Strategy aside, endurance became its own test. Long filming nights, especially for contestants assigned as Traitors, stretched well past midnight. Underwood noted that while the grind was part of the job, the mental load added another dimension to the competition.
Some castmates were more intimidating than others. Lisa Rinna stood out immediately. Underwood admitted he felt instant nerves upon seeing her on day one, joking that clashing with a Real Housewife wasn’t exactly on his post-coming-out vision board.
Donna Kelce, Swifties, and a Very Real Fear
One of the season’s most anxiety-inducing moments involved Donna Kelce. Underwood recalled being warned by his husband, Jordan, to avoid targeting her at all costs. The reasoning was simple: Swifties. With a family at home, the idea of accidentally unleashing internet fury was enough to cause genuine stress. Still, game mechanics forced his hand, and Underwood acknowledged the risk with humor and disbelief.
Reality TV Without the Cameras in Your Head
Unlike his time on The Bachelor, Underwood said The Traitors offered something rare: access to a psychologist without production interference. He used downtime to work out, reset mentally, and stay balanced. That freedom, he explained, made a noticeable difference compared to earlier reality experiences, where vulnerability often felt transactional.
He also laughed about one unexpected perk of podcasting with Ferguson, actually being allowed to eat. During Bachelor dates, food was purely decorative, a revelation Ferguson met with visible shock.
Looking Back at a Harder Chapter
The conversation shifted as Underwood spoke about the period before coming out in 2021. He described feeling trapped by expectation, public scrutiny, and his own internal conflict. COVID became a breaking point, forcing him to confront a life that no longer felt sustainable.
That reckoning reshaped how he views visibility today, particularly in sports. Underwood remains frustrated by how professional leagues handle queer athletes, pointing to systemic hesitation that prioritizes optics over genuine support.
The Regret and the Growth
Underwood’s one lingering regret is that he never played football openly. He believes the freedom of honesty would have changed how he showed up on the field. Still, moments like his college coach’s unexpectedly affirming response remind him that progress can come from unlikely places.
As the episode winds down, Underwood speaks less like a former reality lead and more like someone finally comfortable off-script, reflective, self-aware, and clear-eyed about where growth still needs to happen.