British reality babe Charlie King has come out as gay, telling ITV’s This Morning hosts Phillip Schofield and Amanda Holden that he feels “positive” about being able to open up about his sexuality.
“Our stories will help people, there is a way out. You are not alone,” he said in a live interview this morning. “I want to be a positive person, telling people ‘you can do this.'”
Charlie rose to fame opposite Dan Osborne on The Only Way Is Essex, a half-scripted British reality show often described as the UK’s Jersey Shore. We don’t have the luxury of tuning in from America, but according to the Daily Mail, Charlie’s sexuality has been a topic of conversation on the show constantly.
Charlie revealed he first came out to Gemma Collins, the TOWIE co-star he briefly dated while filming. “I had a girlfriend, she was the first person I spoke to and told,” he said. “It was a proper relationship but I was very aware when I was seeing her thing weren’t quite right. If something doesn’t click, it doesn’t click.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Charlie’s co-star Ferne McCann became one the first to congratulate him after coming out. He’s received overwhelming praise and acceptance from the public all day:
I am very proud of you @CharlieKing85 Your braveness will encourage others to be who they want to be! ???
— Ferne McCann (@fernemccann) October 9, 2014
Most importantly, Charlie recently modeled underwear in a campaign for UK-based underwear retailer BANG+STRIKE. Looks like we have a new British boyfriend to keep track of:
And check out one more he did for Bang Lads, which is far too sexy for us to show you here.
Check out a clip from the full interview below:
Faulk
He is really cute, and i’m glad for him 🙂
DarkZephyr
Mine!
Len John
Thank god for scruffy men…
KwisatzHaderach
Good on him for living his truth!
(Why did I suddenly become British there?)
gskorich
you can watch all episodes of the only way is essex ( TOWIE) on hulu.
T101
He’s goofy looking.
stranded
I got a bit bored with TOWIE, then Charlie came in the scene and I crushed on him SOO much. It was such a shame he left the show. @gskorich is right, if you live in the U.S. you can see the show on hulu. I wonder how this change his relationship with Bobby, he was into Charlie very much, but Charlie was still denying it.
MMDD
I must say I have the hardest time identifying with all these guys who, time and time again, come out as gay and say they realized it because “things weren’t clicking with women” or “I was dating/sleeping with women, and something just didn’t seem right.” I knew I was gay because I was ATTRACTED TO MALES and NOT attracted to females. Never even occurred to me to date a girl, much less sleep with one. And I’m 49 years old and from a different generation–yet here we are in 2014, and gay guys are still dating, sleeping with, and marrying women. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Scribe38
@MMDD: I dated women in high school and college. I honestly cared about every girl I dated. As a teen I would jerk off thinking about girls. I enjoyed sleeping with them, but yeah there was something missing. I thought maybe I was just bisexual and had three ways with a guy and a girl. It took me a while to realize/accept emotionally I’m capable of loving and screwing people of both genders but I am only my true self when I am with a man.
DonW
@KwisatzHaderach: You became AUSTRALIAN, mate. “Good on ya” is an expression from Down Under!
MMDD
@Scribe38: But the difference is you’re bisexual, not gay. There’s a significant difference, even though you prefer guys. If you were genuinely gay, you wouldn’t have felt those kinds of desires for girls in the first place.
KwisatzHaderach
@MMDD:
Ugh. This again.
If he primarily pursues relationships with men and only truly finds fulfillment with men, then he gets to call himself GAY. Don’t be a jerk.
MMDD
@KwisatzHaderach: Um…no, if he is sexually and emotionally attracted to both genders, then he is a bisexual. “II’m capable of loving and screwing people of both genders….” His words, not mine. Many bisexuals say the same thing, and many also concede that they prefer one gender over another, which is what he says.
Don’t be an idiot.
MMDD
@KwisatzHaderach: And just because he “finds fulfillment with men,” that doesn’t take away his attraction to women.
enlightenone
@KwisatzHaderach: MMDD is right!
enlightenone
“It was a proper relationship but I was very aware when I was seeing her thing weren’t quite right. If something doesn’t click, it doesn’t click.”
What is considered a “proper relationship?”
MMDD
@enlightenone: Thank you.
KwisatzHaderach
@enlightenone:
@MMDD:
Well, we’ll just agree to disagree there. ^_^
KwisatzHaderach
@Scribe38:
On this, the eve of National Coming Out Day (and though you may have been out for decades by now AFAIK), I’d like to congratulate you on living as your true, authentic self. 🙂
#gaywithanasterisk
stranded
@enlightenone: IMO, there can be 2 ways to define it. Either he’s using proper as Brit slang, meaning something good, going well.
Ex. “HOw’s your relationship going?”
“Proper, she’s amazing.”
Or some relationships have an emotional connection where both parties claim each other as their boyfriend or girlfriend while others are closer to a friends with benefits type. A proper relationship would then mean, you’ve gone past the casualness and have committed to be each other’s partner.
Ex. “Are you guys just messin’ around or are you in a proper relationship?”
enlightenone
@stranded: I presumed as much, but doesn’t fit for his relationship with this woman considering his psychological mindset as he states in the article!
Maude
Lets cut to the chase…..who thinks obama is gay and Michael is his beard>
enlightenone
@KwisatzHaderach: “Well, we’ll just agree to disagree there. ^_^”
You don’t get to “agree and disagree” about what is now fact, otherwise you sound like the deceiving and manipulative Republicans and FOX “news” talking head puppets!
enlightenone
@Maude: “who thinks obama is gay and Michael is his beard”
You and FOX “news” talking head puppets!