Duncan James, who achieved international fame in the early ’00s as a member of the British boy band Blue, introduced the world to his new boyfriend in an Instagram post over the weekend.
Blue has sold over 15 million records worldwide and headlined eight tours between 2002 and 2018. The band’s first three albums all peaked at #1 in the U.K. and spawned an impressive 16 hit singles over a four-year period.
In his latest post, 41-year-old James can be seen snuggling up with his new boo, Rodrigo Reis, along with the caption: “Cute pic alert!! Such a beautiful person inside and out. Thankyou @rodrigolopesreis for making me smile.”
In a followup Twitter post, James went on to say he’s now “happy in [his] skin” and “proud 2 be gay” writing:
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I posted this pic on my Insta yesterday & couldn’t get over the amazing response, comments and love from people. I didn’t identify as a gay man for many years because of my own issues with coming out, but finally im happy in my skin & this guy next 2 me makes me proud 2 be gay.
I posted this pic on my Insta yesterday & couldn’t get over the amazing response, comments and love from people. I didn’t identify as a gay man for many years because of my own issues with coming out, but finally im happy in my skin & this guy next 2 me makes me proud 2 be gay.?? pic.twitter.com/pXOQjBknFe
— Duncan James (@MrDuncanJames) July 21, 2019
James initially came out as bisexual in 2009. In 2014, he clarified that he now identifies as gay, though he said labels really aren’t that important to him.
Speaking to Gay Star News at the time, he explained: “I’m a gay guy. I like men, so that makes me gay. Don’t get me wrong, I think people can be bisexual. When I came out as bisexual at the time, it was just easier to use the word. I do say I’m gay, but I don’t really care about labels. I don’t really care if people want to call me bisexual or gay.”
Scroll down for more pics from James’ Instagram page…
curiobi
Yeah I’m not sure anyone is suprised by this because he himself didn’t seem to be very comfortable with himself at the time he announced he was Bi.
He is right that labels are not as important as being happy, and after a lot of years it seems he finally is confident himself. Hopefully his message will inspire others to worry less about categories and labels and more on finding happiness. Good luck to him.
Donston
I know I can be pretty dismissive towards identity. However, “labels” are important in helping educate people and important for certain individuals to gain a greater degree of self-understanding, confidence and comfort. But ultimately, everyone is different. Everyone has their own journey. Everyone has different priorities. And what gives everyone fulfillment/contentment is different. So, there being so much emphasis on identity has often been counterproductive. We’re also still in an either/or state of thinking when people’s sense of self is often more complicated and often crosses over multiple “labels”.
Chrisk
Nice. Wow. An actual good looking and masculine boybander. No wonder he never appealed to teenage girls.
Black Pegasus
The only breaking news here is that the boyfriend is Black lol
jonasalden
Right! I thought the same thing, but didn’t want to sound like a dinosaur by noting that.
Gay Veteran
He gave me good unproblematic gay vibes when I followed him while he was on Hollyoaks… Now I have to go follow his boyfriend.
TheBigOne
Seriously, anybody really believe that he couldn’t come out because he had “issues”?
Or was it REALLY because his record company told him NOT to?
He also seems pretty full of himself, attention whore.
Also, eeeeeeewwwwwwww.
bowlingbutch
I never have followed boy bands so I had no idea who this person is. WOW! I need to rethink following boy bands. What a HOT man. So glad he is comfortable in his skin now.
queerbec
Really enjoyed him on Hollyoaks. He could exude testosterone at appropriate times. He seemed most comfortable in all the various subplots involving his speculative gayness, rather than with any of the heterosexual plots he was involved with. Of course, he killed off all of his female scene characters as part of the storyline, so…………
Kangol2
Cute couple, and the boyfriend is HOT.
GayEGO
Nice couple!
Huffman
I bet their sex is AMAZING!
charlie_jackpot
I bet the reverse – probably too much meth and or coke to truly get hard
nitejonboy
I know,right ? He’d make a pretty penny as a porn star if he wanted to,lol
DavidIntl
Usually when there is an article about a boy band member, lots of voices here ask “who?” and, being a fan of your typical boy-band twink, I have been aware of them for years. In this case, it is just the opposite – have never heard of the guy or the band, and most definitely not my type. Seems like the kind of guy who are just everywhere at your typical gay resort. Of course, I do wish him all the best – glad he is now comfortable with his identity.
Chrisk
“most definitely not my type.”
Lets see. What are you again? Oh that’s right. A disabled 60 yo obsessed with teens. Whatever will he do. Lol
nitejonboy
Never heard of him, but very happy for him.
sweetnovember
I know the band blue. I have listened to many of their songs. But I can’t remember which one of them he was. I remember they had one black singer and the rest of them were white guys.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
Good on him!
My2Cents
“Labels aren’t important” that’s a bunch of crap I’ve been hearing for years. Labels are important. That’s why we have them. He himself used a false label of Bi because he thought it was easier than saying “Gay”. There seems to be some importance in that right?
And while I’m ranting, before you go and try out the label “Bi” be sure you’re not “Gay”. Try “curious” or “undecided”. For years I didn’t believe there was such a thing as “Bi” because I only knew it to be abused by gay men taking baby steps out of the closet.