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Colton Haynes gets candid about his love life, 50,000 hobbies & what coming out cost him in Hollywood

Colton Haynes
Colton Haynes (Photo: YouTube)

Actor Colton Haynes was a guest this week on the Johnny Sibilly Q&A show “Logo Spill.” In it, Sibilly shares drinks and tries to get gossip and revelations from his guests.

Of course, Haynes is famously sober so he wasn’t knocking back the shots. However, he doesn’t need liquor to loosen his tongue. Since coming out in 2016, he has been open about the struggles in his life.

This includes the pressure to stay in the closet as a young actor, turning to drugs and alcohol, and his family life when young.

Perhaps because Sibilly is also an out actor, but the two men hit it off and had an engaging, light-hearted but illuminating conversation.

Although neither regret being out, both said that coming out in the entertainment industry still has consequences.

“It was wild,” recalls Haynes. “I lost every deal. I haven’t had a brand deal since 2016.”

“And going to get like six auditions a year for Gay Best Friend Number One, when I was [previously] booking for straight roles,” he adds.

Then there are the publicity tours.

“If I’m in a group interview with a cast or something, they’ll go down the line and be like, oh, what’s your character like, blah, blah, blah … they’ll get to me and they’ll be like, ‘So what’s it like to be gay in Hollywood?’ And I’m just like, ‘Wow’.”

Dating

The two men also covered romance. Sibilly asked, “What’s it like to go on a date with Colton Haynes?”

Thinking for a moment, Haynes replied “Just take a nap. It’s more beneficial for your health, I think.”

“You think you’re boring?” asked Sibilly, surprised.

“I think my interests are not what a lot of other people… I have 50,000 hobbies on any given day. I can’t not pick up couches off the side of the road. I have a hoarding garage where I redo furniture. I do pottery. I paint. But there’s too many [hobbies],” said Haynes.

Sibilly asks if he’d prefer to date someone who doesn’t know who he is.

“Yeah. I do not want to date though. I really don’t. I just can’t do it.”

Haynes went on to say he finds excuses not to date, even if nice guys express interest. He says he can’t match their energy.

“I feel like if someone’s putting all that investment into trying to dive in. I’m not there. And I think most of my relationships, that’s where I’ve been, but I continue anyway and what ends up happening is we both get hurt.”

“I think now I know I’m in a great place being alone. But still, if you want to hook up, DM me.”

Miss Memory Lane

The two men also talk about Haynes’ acclaimed memoir, Miss Memory Lane. Haynes said writing the book was a way of putting his past on the shelf and starting anew. It was “definitely healing.”

However, he didn’t anticipate how challenging he would find having to do interviews to promote the book. He also expressed frustration with how press coverage dwelled largely on his involvement with certain TV shows.

“I put my entire soul into this book. It’s the greatest thing I’ll likely ever do in my life. I’m that proud of it. I started crying when I saw it in the airport.”

“We just have to start making our own things”

This is not the first time Haynes has talked about the impact that coming out had on his career. A couple of years ago, he told the Behind The Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast, “It is extremely hard navigating the industry as an out person, an out LGBTQ+ actor, no matter how hard the media loves to try to tell you that, you know, things are different now.

“They’re not. I mean, you have incredible movies at the box office that aren’t doing or getting the respect that they deserve. You have actors who aren’t being paid the same as everybody else, even though they’ve been a part of projects for 10 years.

“… I played straight characters my whole career. Then I came out of the closet and now the opportunities aren’t there. And so I think that’s something that needs to change. But also I think we just have to start making our own things and we have to start writing our own things and trying to uplift our communities as much as we can and not be the people in the community who try to continue to tear it down as well.”

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