Billy Eichner is revealing where he stands with Colton Underwood after saying the reality star could be the “first gay Bachelor” before he came out.
“I went on The Bachelor before we knew he was gay. As I joke, I said — because we knew he was a virgin — I said, ‘You might be the first gay Bachelor and we don’t even know it.’ And then when he came out a few years later, that went very viral,” Eichner, 47, recalled on the Monday, May 4, episode of Watch What Happens Live. “But I was just joking around.”
He continued, “I actually DMed him and I said, ‘Hey, I’m sorry I put you on the spot like that. I had no idea you were gay. If I thought you were, I wouldn’t have asked you about that on national television.’ He was super cool with it.”
Eichner shared that he and Underwood, 34, have “spoken a lot” since then, noting that the pair run into each other “once in a while.”
“We see each other sometimes,” Eichner said. “He’s lovely and nice to see.”
Eichner was a guest host for a group date during Underwood’s season 23 of The Bachelor in 2019, where he joked about the lead being “the first gay Bachelor.” The comment resurfaced online when Underwood opened up about his sexuality in 2021.
Eichner, for his part, previously told Us Weekly that he did not see it coming.
“I don’t really know Colton well … [but] the day he came out, you know, I tweeted my support for him,” Eichner told Us in 2021, adding that his personal journey was “very different” than what Underwood experienced.
“I truly had no idea he was gay when I shot The Bachelor,” he continued. “I don’t really watch The Bachelor. … I never suspected he was gay, but you know, I’m happy for him. Everyone is on their own journey when it comes to coming out.”
Eichner shared that he’s rooting for Underwood as “he continues to evolve” into “a happy gay person.”
Underwood announced in February 2022 that he was engaged to Jordan C. Brown, with whom he tied the knot the following year. The couple welcomed their first baby, son Bishop, via surrogate in 2024.
“Our world is a million times better with you in it,” the pair captioned a joint Instagram post announcing Bishop’s birth.
