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Colton Haynes Opens Up Honestly About His Sexuality And His Health

By · 9.3K shares · 59 comments · Updated on May 6, 2016

Colton-Haynes

It’s felt as if Colton Haynes has long been gently, but intentionally teasing us with all the coy photos posted to his very entertaining Instagram account and with that controversial message last January in response to a note posted on Tumblr, referencing provocative photos taken at the start of his career, that read: “When I found out Colton Haynes had a secret gay past, I got so excited even though i know it makes absolutely no difference in my life.” The 27-year-old actor, who has appeared in Arrow, The Grinder and Teen Wolf, cryptically replied, “Was it a secret? Let’s all enjoy life & have no regrets.” Many people, OK, just about everyone, took that to mean that Haynes was going the Jim Parsons-route and acknowledging that he’s gay without making a big public to-do about it. Now, however, he’s setting the record straight, so to speak, with a very revealing interview with EW, in which he confirms that he is not the least bit heterosexual and that he’s concerned about his mental health, as he suffers from severe anxiety and an ulcer.

Addressing the hubbub over Haynes’ sexual orientation earlier this year, EW writes:

“It was a complete shock. I wasn’t ready to be back in the headlines,” Haynes, who is in fact gay but has never publicly addressed his sexuality (and, like many others on his path, took advice early in his career to subdue it). “I should have made a comment or a statement, but I just wasn’t ready. I didn’t feel like I owed anyone anything. I think in due time, everyone has to make those decisions when they’re ready, and I wasn’t yet. But I felt like I was letting people down by not coming forward with the rest of what I should have said.”

Related: Twelve Other Times Colton Haynes Has Been Absolutely Fabulous

“People want you to be that GQ image that you put out, but people don’t realize what it’s like to act 24 hours a day. I’d go home and I was still acting,” he added to EW. “People who are so judgmental about those who are gay or different don’t realize that acting 24 hours a day is the most exhausting thing in the world.”

The magazine also notes that Haynes took a brief break from his career due to concerns over his health:

“I asked to step away because I cared more about my mental and physical health than my career at the time,” the actor tells EW, opening up about his personal and professional life for the first time in quite some time. “I’ve had terminal anxiety my entire life. Physically ill, fainting. I’m 27 years old, and I have an ulcer. I had to step back.” Clinical anxiety and public pressure are a potent mix, but their effects may be worse for someone like Haynes – a gentle spirit in a threatening (or so he’s been told by many a casting director) build, someone who lost control of his own personal narrative somewhere along the way between Kansas and California.

Hang in there, sir. Things can only get better.