Hugh Sheridan engaged to boyfriend Kurt Roberts after Adelaide Fringe proposal

Just months after coming out, actor Hugh Sheridan has proposed to his banker boyfriend on stage at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Hugh Sheridan has proposed to his boyfriend of three months Kurt Roberts on stage at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

Sheridan popped the question following the opening night of his show ‘Hughman’. Mr Roberts said yes.

Just a few months since coming out, Sheridan confirmed his relationship with Sydney banker Roberts after he “locked eyes and fell hard” for the 29-year-old at a Sydney party.

“I know it has only been a few months but I’m 35 years old. I have been dating for nearly 20 years so it’s not like I don’t know my way around this thing, you know?” Sheridan said.

“I just think that when you know, you know. Why wait?

“Kurt is the kindest, most amazing guy I have ever met and I’m so happy he’s in my life.”

Initially opting to keep the burgeoning romance quiet, Sheridan only opened up about his new love yesterday — his first publicly gay relationship and his first romance in four years.

Sheridan, 35, says his attraction to Roberts, 29, was “immediate” when the pair met at a party at the Darlinghurst mansion previously owned by Baz Luhrmann in late November last year.

However he says the feeling was, initially at least, not quite mutual.

“I had just published my big essay about my sexuality and I could see that he saw me and thought; ‘Oh no, too hard’,” Sheridan laughs.

“I would say that by all accounts he had zero interest. He is quite shy and not at all from the world that I am involved in.

Hugh Sheridan and boyfriend Kurt Roberts. Picture: Steven Chee

“But I was pretty persistent. I messaged him and he didn’t respond. And then we caught up again with some mutual friends around Christmas and that’s when I realised I just needed to slow down and give him some space.

“So then I started to get very old-school about the whole thing.

“There was no rushing. We just went out for dinners and took things very slowly and I did everything by the book because I knew, deep down, that this guy was a keeper.”

Hugh Sheridan and new man Kurt Roberts have moved in together. Picture: Steven Chee

The new romance comes 13 years after Sheridan says he was first advised by some of his acting mentors to keep his sexuality a secret, soon after landing his first major acting role as Ben Rafter on Packed To The Rafters back in 2008.

“I always think back to that time when I was about 16 and I was so brave and fearless and then everything changed. I was told to keep things a secret and hide parts of who I was because people told me I would never get work as an actor,” he says.

“And then as the years went by and I had relationships with both men and women and I decided that I would just keep all of that aspect of my life private.

“But then lately I have been thinking about that guy that I was at 16 and what it would have meant for him to see someone in the public eye being open and fearless about who they were so I thought; ‘Nope. No more hiding. I’ve met the most amazing person. It’s Mardi Gras … and I have a responsibility to be truthful about things’.”

Sheridan is also set to mark another personal first this week. The 35-year-old is debuting his first one-man show Hughman at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.

FULL PICTURE CREDITS

Wardrobe: Camilla Franks

Photographer: Steven Chee@stevenchee

Stylist: Fleur Egan@fleureganstyle

Hair: Brad Mullins@bradmullinshair

Makeup: Noni Smith@nonismithmakeup