Yahoo Finance Colton Underwood's Former Fling Tia Booth Says 'Love Who You Wanna Love' After He Comes Out as Gay
Tia Booth is showing her support for former fling Colton Underwood after he came out as gay.
The former Bachelor contestant, 29, recently spoke out after receiving an onslaught of messages about the news. In an Instagram Story post captured by Page Six, Booth shared her statement alongside screenshots of direct messages from various users demanding to know her thoughts. One person even advised Booth to "get your pr people to approve a statement on Colton because this is prime content that people are actively searching for," to which the reality star replied: "Eww."
"@ColtonUnderwood knows how I feel," she continued. "Love who you wanna love. There's my statement. I am my own PR team. GTG bye."
Booth and Underwood, 29, met and briefly dated before he joined her friend Becca Kufrin's season of The Bachelorette in 2018. When Booth made an appearance on Kufrin's season, she confessed that she still had feelings for Underwood.
RELATED: Bachelor Nation Stars React to Colton Underwood Coming Out as Gay — 'You Have My Love and Support'
Getty (2)
Underwood was later eliminated by Kufrin and proceeded to have another brief fling with Booth on season 5 of Bachelor in Paradise that summer before being cast as the next Bachelor.
On his season, he found love with Cassie Randolph. Booth, for her part, dated Cory Cooper until the fall of 2019, when they split after one year together.
Underwood and Randolph, 25, ended their relationship in May 2020. Three months later, Randolph filed for a restraining order against her ex due to alleged harassment and stalking. She ultimately dropped the order two months later.
Will you accept this rose? Sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly Bachelor Nation newsletter to get the latest news on The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and everything in between.
Underwood, who has also been linked to Aly Raisman and Lucy Hale, came out as gay during an interview with Robin Roberts that aired on Good Morning America April 14.
"I've ran from myself for a long time. I've hated myself for a long time, and I'm gay. And I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it," he said. "The next step in all of this was letting people know. I'm still nervous. It's been a journey, for sure. I'm emotional, but in such a good, happy, positive way."
During the sit-down, the former NFL player also apologized to Randolph for their tumultuous split.
"It's hard for me to articulate what my emotions were going through that relationship with her, because I obviously had an internal fight going on," he said. "I would just say that I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. I'm sorry for any pain and emotional stress I caused, I wish it wouldn't have happened the way it did. I wish that I would've been courageous enough to fix myself before I broke anybody else."
