Actor Hugh Sheridan overwhelmed with support after revealing sexuality
Australian actor Hugh Sheridan has been surprised by the response to his coming out story after revealing in Stellar magazine he has had relationships with both men and women.
Confidential
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Hugh Sheridan says he has been surprised by the response to his coming out story.
The Aussie actor revealed in Stellar magazine at the weekend he has had relationships with both men and women.
Not wanting to use labels like bisexual, Sheridan described himself as simply “human”.
“I’ve honestly been completely overwhelmed with how many people really related to what I was saying, especially about taking your time and not having to pick a label straight away,” Sheridan told Confidential, adding that he had been inundated with direct messages on social media.
“I’m slowly responding, but some are very emotional, it’s quite a lot to take in so soon after opening up.”
Sheridan of course is one of our most famous actors, having got his start on top TV drama Packed To The Rafters.
A former National Institute of Dramatic Art graduate, Sheridan has been in the public eye for 13 years.
Sheridan, now 35, said he was advised early in his career to hide his sexuality in order to stay employed.
“Figuring out that I connected with the same sex the way I did the opposite sex was almost a relief, so that advice was confusing,” he said in the article.
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“I now know that they were coming from a place of caring. The way it was explained to me was that women wouldn’t want to pay to see a movie or TV show if they knew they couldn’t have sex with the leading man. And it made me angry. It had taken me that long to meet a guy I liked that I didn’t want to hide it and I didn’t feel the need to. So I was loud about it.”
In the article, he explained: “People will read this and say, ‘He’s not coming out. He’s bisexual. He’s asexual. Or non-binary. Or queer. Or fluid.’ There are all these words that didn’t exist when I was younger and maybe if they had, they would have helped. But the fact that these labels keep popping up indicate there must be a lot more people out there who feel how I feel – like the words still don’t fit. Maybe this is also my way of letting people know that I’m still single, and everyone is on the smorgasbord (laughs).”
Sheridan has been busy working in an edit suite since the story came out and said he had been touched by the response to his words.
He shared his story in the hope of helping others.
“I think I’ve genuinely helped, that’s all I wanted to do, I know my story would’ve helped me when I was younger so I guessed there were others needing it now,” he told Confidential. “I’m just surprised how many people are feeling the same and I’m glad they know they’re not alone, in turn I know I’m not either.”