[3] The series also features Underwood meeting openly gay ex-NFL players David Kopay, Esera Tuaolo, and Michael Sam.
[6] Throughout the six-episode series, Underwood begins connecting with other prominent LGBTQ folks and LQBTQ athletes, exploring what made him feel like he needed to stay in the closet.
The show provides a more intimate look at his coming-out process, before his Good Morning America interview, as he comes out to family members and brings the cameras with him as he prepares to share his truth with the world.
"[12] Lifestyle and entertainment programming network, LogoTV, who target LGBTQ audiences and reach millions of subscribed households, also posted on social media a series insight to promote the release of the series, captioning their post “@coltonunderwood views his privilege as “an opportunity for me to help out other people who might not have that privilege, to learn from them, to amplify their voices, to share their stories.” #TheBachelor alum chats with #LogoLive’s @JohnnySibilly on his highly publicised coming-out journey and subsequent @Netflix show #ComingOutColton, his evolving relationship with God as an openly #gay #Christian, and what he has learned about his privilege through the critiques he's received.”[13] Response from the series was heavily varied, both largely criticized by several top critics, and also rated favorably by the general audience.
A representative from one magazine suggested “my discomfort with the show, rather, is how he has used this journey for personal gain, quick wealth, and celebrity,” before further criticizing Underwood by drawing the analogy “fuck selling Tummy Tea on Instagram when you have a whole marginalized community to profit off of, right?”[14] Standing in solidarity with these claims, critics from Variety magazine said, “new Netflix reality series “Coming Out Colton,” announced after its star’s seemingly open interview with Robin Roberts, suggests that there is little that Underwood won't leverage to rebuild his public image and seek new opportunities,” before concluding that “‘Coming Out Colton’ is a distasteful extension of a brand that doesn't mean much to begin with.”[15] Underwood also received copious backlash through critics that claimed the story of his coming out was merely a matter of “anything to be famous,” as Entertainment Weekly put it, as the idea that Underwood comes out the same week that it is announced he has a reality show deal in place with Netflix.
Specifically, a 2011 study by Adi Adams and Eric Anderson which concludes that despite decreasing homophobia, openly gay male athletes are still rare in organized, competitive team sports.
The results concluded that the National Football League is more resistant to the presences of gay male teammates, with more attitudes aligned with a traditional hegemonic masculinity.