Paulie Calafiore<\/strong><\/a> is feeling like a new man after publicly coming out as bisexual.<\/p>\n Paulie, 34, opened up about his bisexuality for the first time during the Thursday, August 17, episode of The Challenge: USA<\/em><\/a>. One day after the episode aired, he spoke exclusively to Us Weekly<\/em> about how not expressing his sexuality in the past negatively affected him.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I got out of college and went into professional sports \u2026 I was like, \u2018Alright, let me bottle this back up inside,\u201d said Paulie, noting that he was able to \u201cexpress [himself] a little more\u201d during his college days. \u201cAnd then when I went on national television<\/a> for the first time, I was like, \u2018Let me definitely bottle this up inside.\u2019 And by doing that, I kind of showed, like, that really aggressive athletic side of me. And I never got to also show the softer side of me, which I feel came from suppressing that again.\u201d<\/p>\n Paulie, whose reality TV career on Big Brother<\/em><\/a> and The Challenge<\/em> <\/a>has been marked by explosive fights<\/a> with his competitors, added that people who knew him in high school and college said he had \u201ca light to him.\u201d But after he began hiding his authentic self, that side of him was \u201ccompletely gone and suppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n Although the CBS personality admitted it was a \u201clittle scary\u201d making the decision to tell the world about his sexuality, he felt it was important for him to do so.<\/p>\n \u201cI want people to understand other layers of me. I want people to understand me so that I [can] just be my true self and really just kind of let that shine through,\u201d he said. \u201cNo matter what really happens from a competitive standpoint from here on out, I just know that I\u2019m staying true to myself. And that\u2019s the only thing that I think we can do in life.\u201d<\/p>\n Paulie also credited fitness trainer Shaun T<\/strong> and fellow Big Brother<\/em> alum Frankie Grande<\/strong><\/a>, who are both openly gay, with helping him embrace his sexuality. \u201cThey really kind of helped me along the way. They knew way before everybody else,\u201d he said. The New Jersey native added that his girlfriend, Cara Maria Sarbello<\/strong><\/a>, has also been a source of support.<\/p>\n \u201cWe both are bisexual. We just get it,\u201d he said of Cara Maria, 37, whom he\u2019s been dating for five years. \u201cI didn\u2019t have to have those conversations like, \u2018What do you mean [you\u2019re bisexual]?\u2019 It was just kind of understood. She understood.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to sharing insights about his personal growth journey during Thursday\u2019s episode, Paulie had to fight for his life in the game when he faced off against Johnny \u201cBananas\u201d Devenanzio<\/strong><\/a> during the elimination round.<\/p>\n Johnny, 41, ultimately emerged victorious from the tense competition, which forced the two men to hold one arm above their heads as long as they could while standing on a block of melting ice.<\/p>\n The two Challenge<\/em> vets<\/a> have feuded in the past \u2014 Johnny, 41, once called Paulie \u201csociopathic\u201d and \u201cnarcissistic\u201d during a January 2019 interview with HollywoodLife<\/a> \u2014 but Paulie wanted to put their differences aside<\/a> at the start of this season. The former enemies even shared a hug after the elimination round.<\/p>\n Although \u201cold feelings\u201d about Johnny came up from time to time during the season, Paulie told Us<\/em> that he relied on the inner work he\u2019s done to let those feelings float by without acting on them.<\/p>\n \u201cI brought a journal,\u201d he said. \u201cI wrote about the feelings that I was feeling there just to kind of, like, get them out.\u201d<\/p>\n As for what sparked his desire to change his behavior, Paulie said it came down to feeling like his \u201coff the field antics<\/a>\u201d had jeopardized his chances of returning to The Challenge<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce it went two seasons [without me being asked to participate], I was like, \u2018[I] gotta make a change, like, now. And thank God I did because I\u2019m so happy to be back. I wish I would\u2019ve lasted longer but the growth and the mindset change has been everything to me,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n![\"Paulie](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Paulie-Calafiore-Says-Aggressive-Side-of-Him-Came-From-Suppressing-Bisexuality-2.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Paulie Calafiore on \u2018The Challenge: Usa\u2019<\/span> Jonne Roriz\/Paramount<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n