A recent interview with Love Island’s Curtis Pritchard has not gone over well with Good Morning Britain viewers.
Pritchard made headlines this week when he said he “wouldn’t rule out” a relationship with a man. “You can never put a label on anything,” he said. “It’s a cliche to say, but love is blind. I can never ever say what will happen in the future.”
The hosts of Good Morning Britain pressed him on the comments, clearly wanting him to do the one thing he expressly said he didn’t want to do: label his sexuality.
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“The future’s a road which is unwritten,” he reiterated. “Nobody can ever say what’s going to happen in the future, really. Last year, would I have ever said I’d be on Love Island? No, and this year I was on Love Island.
“So, I never want to label what the future’s going to be, because I don’t think anyone can ever really do that. So, all I want to say is I’m 100% comfortable where I am now in my relationship with Maura [Higgins], and it is moving in the correct direction.”
That led one host to ask him if he’s bisexual.
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Pritchard said:
“I’m not labelling anything, because I don’t feel like I need to label anything, because so many people put labels on things, so many people say things like this and that.
I learnt this from the villa actually – ‘My head’s not going to be turned,’ and in the villa, two days is like two years in real life, their head gets turned, they change their mind, they change their opinion, things change.
So that’s why I’m not labelling anything, because I would be labelling, because I would be lying to anyone.”
Watch:
‘I never want to label what the future is going to be because I don’t think anyone can really ever do that.’#LoveIsland's Curtis Pritchard addresses rumours about his sexuality. pic.twitter.com/RsAPJxo6sY
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) August 8, 2019
The exchange prompted plenty of criticism, with many feeling that the line of questioning was disrespectful given the fact that Pritchard was crystal-clear that he wasn’t going to label himself.
“Let this guy live his life, if he’s bisexual or ever gets with another male then so what? It’s 2019 things like this should be widely accepted,” wrote one viewer.
Another commented: “This was a toe-curling, cringing interview and I would have thought Kate Garraway and Adil Ray would have conducted theirselves more professionally.”
This was a toe curling, cringing interview and I would have thought @kategarraway and @adilray would have conducted theirselves more professionally. Shameful and totally unnecessary!
— Louise Henley (@LoulabelleH) August 8, 2019
Disgraceful interviewing. I love GMB, but to badger someone constantly about whether they are gay or not is not professional. If he is then so what? He handled it perfectly. @CurtisPritchard
— Marilyn Thomson (@MarilynThomson3) August 8, 2019
Awful interview bordering on harassment. They kept at him but he kept his cool. ????
— Sarah (@carolindanielle) August 8, 2019
he shouldnt have to label his sexuality and people shouldnt keep speculating.
Let this guy live his life, if hes bisexual or ever gets with another male then so what? Its 2019 things like this should be widely accepted.
— brin (@brintaylorr) August 8, 2019
That was shocking behaviour from @adilray And @kategarraway, interview, more like interrogation.
— Kags66 (@Kags661) August 8, 2019
Catholicslutbox
gay-baiting. nothing new.
Cam
So he makes a gay baiting statement to get some press then doesn’t like ie when he is actually asked about the statement he made.
enlightenone
Exactly. I am a male (label), and American (label), and Black (label) – ALL 3 impact my life/existence my whole life into the future.
Diplomat-G
@CAM
Leave it to you to be the A$$ in the room, what a moron you are.
Cam
@Diplomat-G
You’re welcome to point out anything I said that was incorrect. Oh, right, you can’t so just lashed out. Sweetie, if you can’t back up your own point maybe rethink posting.
Loki
I don’t know why he keeps bringing up “the future.” Sexuality is not time-sensitive.
It that interview was cringe-y, he was the source of it.
Diplomat-G
Loki,
Gee its not, try posing that question to people who have come out later in life.
enlightenone
Your sexual ORIENTATION, in his case bisexual, unless he is in denial or being deceptive, is there whether you label it or not! I’m sure there are a million labels that identity him that he has zero problems answering without the soft-shoe dance. He opened pandora’s box to get media attention, now he has it!
berto
Attention whore
Loki
After someone mentioned his crooked nose/mismatched nostrils in the last article, it’s all I see. Kinda like Shannon Doherty’s eyes…
Cam
Bill Hader’s eyes also.
Donston
I mean, fluidity does have some legitimacy for many people. Maybe he’s starting to have some feelings he’s never had before and is uncertain about where his mind and overall preferences/fulfillment may lie years from now. There’s nothing wrong with being sincere about being comfortable where you are but being uncertain as far as how your life will evolve. And there’s definitely nothing wrong with avoiding identity. The fact that people automatically think not identifying as something means you’re manipulating is problematic. It’s pretty much saying that if you don’t follow these socio-political protocols then you are a liar or you’re “erasing” something. It needs to stop. Let people be and live their damn lives. Orientation, sense of self, and identity will never be as clean cut as people keep trying to make it. And everyone has their journey. That something people need to get over. I will say that the language he used does come off as route hippy-dippy BS. And it does seem as if he used that moment to milk attention. But my overall point remains.
Loki
If he is “uncertain of his feelings,” then maybe he should’ve kept his mouth shut.
Like I say to people who tell me the “Q” in the alphabet soup acronym stands for “questioning”: “Get back to me when you’ve got an answer.”
Donston
His intentions might have been to get attention. But if he was being legit honest then there’s no reason to hate.
It seems some folks would rather people lie, stay quiet or embrace identities that they don’t have full confidence in than people be honest about their dimensions, their ambitions and their struggles. If we want to get to the point where attractions, sexual behaviors, what your romantic ambitions are, who you love, what you identify as (if you identify as anything) don’t matter then we need to be cool with these type of casual expressions. How exactly is punishing people for not completely indulging social/sexual/identity politics helpful to anyone? It’s not. It just leads to more division, homophobia, manipulation, self-resentment, internalized homophobia, gay shame, etc. I will never quite be a full-on “I don’t believe in labels” type of person. And it is true that that stuff is frequently driven by nonsense. But no one should feel pressure to embrace any word just to make things more convenient and to appease people.
ladron
Okay first off — no such thing as “gay baiting.” If you’re foolish enough to care what tv personalities are doing in their bedrooms, you’re dumber than fish in a barrel.
Second off — as my students keep reminding me: labels are for soup cans (meaning not human behaviors). What others want you to say, to label, to define is none of your business. Identify as you want and f- everyone who expects you to define that identity in terms they understand.
pierscik
Agree with both parts of your comment..
So many attack a statement “I would never ever have sex with a man” and attack with equal vehemence “I might just try that sometime “…. they can’t win … or even be honest without fallout…
Cam
So there’s no such thing as gay baiting? Really and there’s no such thing as tokenism? Just curious, how many movies have the black friend with 1 line in the movie? How many movies have the kind Latina maid?
And yes, when a show tries to insinuate a bit of homoerotica in there but won’t actually have an LGBT plotline, that is exactly gay-baiting.
And it’s cute that your young students are able to tell you how the world really is. Next time a diabetic student isn’t going to eat a sugary desert, try telling them that labels don’t matter and to go ahead and eat it. I think as you’re being lead away by police you may realize that labels do indeed exist.
ShiningSex
THE WHOLE “I DON’T BELIEVE IN LABELS” IS SUCH A COP OUT. GET OVER YOURSELF QUEEN. I HAVE MORE RESPECT WITH THOSE ARE NOT AFRAID TO STAND UP AND SAY “I AM GAY”.
BYE!
Diplomat-G
No actually get over yourself, trust me you are not that wind swept and interesting.
TomG
Why does he or ANYONE think that sexual orientation is important? It’s NOT except for those that are involved in a relationship. And maybe someday we’ll reach they point where people can just just be people.
Cam
Because the people who want to arrest or kill us use it to attack us. By coming out and showing there are more of this, we demonstrate the we are here.
Brian
That’s what passes for outing these days?
TheMarc
So, I’m again confused by some people’s reaction to this. One day, labels don’t/shouldn’t matter; the next, he’s some sort of traitor, “gay baiter,” etc. for refusing to label himself? What he is or isn’t is ultimately his and those who he has an intimate relationship with. That does not meet my definition of gay baiting. Aaron Carter he is not.
Donston
It’s not really one day it’s this and another day it’s that. It’s more of a divide. Some people feel as if identity is the be-all. Those are people who tend to be most focused on things like representation and “erasing”. Then there are people who feel no one should embrace any form of any identity ever. And I will admit that those people are the ones who are most likely to be contending with these like internalized homophobia. Then there are people who feel identities work for some and don’t work for others, who place greater emphasis on things like the spectrum, and focus more people simply having self-comfort and living the life they want to live.
There seems to be this idea of “no labels” always equating to pretension, manipulation or shame. And while that is sometimes true, there are many people who embrace whatever identity and still indulge those things. Ultimately, the more nonchalant we are when it comes to identity, sexual behaviors and who people have relationships with and want to love, the easier it’ll be for everyone to be honest and live the lives they want to live. But some folks place social politics above all else.
Rock-N-RollHS
@ Donston,
At parties, do people excuse themselves from you mid conservation?
Kangol2
No, they probably listen to Donston because he’s got a brain and knows how to use it. Take a tip and learn from him once in a while.
nm4047
@donston, do you work for queerty or just come back onto this line of discussion/commentary every hour to throw in your latest thesis in the making?
Donston
The latter. My general viewpoints don’t reflect most of the “writers” on this site. What’s funny is that everything I talk about we continue to see examples of. But instead of at least indulging the convos many choose the easier option of bitchiness.
Paco
“No labeling” has become the new way to say “The love that dare not speak its name”.
Donston
My issue is not that he doesn’t want to label himself but that he doesn’t want to admit to having any type of same-sex attractions or passions or affections or even curiosity. If you’re gonna talk about not knowing what the future holds or whatever at least admit that there’s some intrigue or attraction there. But if he did that people would force him into a gay/queer/bi/fluid identity. Because many social media folks simply can’t handle people being honest about themselves without wanting to give them a title.
boymikefl
I think a lot before committing to a label hesitate. I knew once I labelled myself, that gave people an excuse to hate me. Once you label yourself, no going back, Anne Heche. Cuckoo! Rude question though, unless you want a date with him.
Loki
“Rude question though, unless you want a date with him.”
He was on a reality dating(!) competition and he kissed one of his male roommates(?) and told him that he “loved” him. No big deal. But when asked about the kiss, family members responded with “he’s comfortable in his sexuality.” Not that they’re just two str8 guys goofing around. Interestingly, he had what he called “a half-girlfriend” on the show… whatever that means. He goes on and on about “not knowing what the future holds.” So that means it’s conceivable that he’d end up with a guy? Who knows.
If people are asking questions about his dating life, it’s because he’s invited them to do so…
Kieran
Good thing he wasn’t being interviewed by MSNBC’s notorious homophobe Joy Ann Reid. She probably would have referred to him as “Miss Curtis”.
maxdadmark
Useless, vapid TV. An attention-seeking twat, participating in a swallow morning show interview. Really! What a load of shit.
Cam
No labels is the new way for people to stay in the closet. The same people that didn’t like labels sure didn’t mind calling themselves “Hetero-Flexible” during the brief time they were trying to push that ridiculous label out there. And they certainly don’t mind the labels if they are out with a member of the opposite sex. Just like women in Hollywood all seem to love to claim the bisexual label, as long as they’re married to or dating a man.
djmcgamester
Who cares? Give him attention and he’ll thrive on it. I do agree that we have far too many labels these days and I think it’s backfiring against any sense of inclusion. But, yeah, he’s just trying to use US to draw attention to himself, probably even develop a fan base among LGBTQ people.
Invader7
Another untalented fame whore. Who’s 15 minutes has expired. A Z list has been !!!
Tombear
This guy reeks HOMO!
scotty
all they want to air is dirty laundry. have some ethics geez.
bambamboom777
I think labels can be important when it comes to visibility and for political strength. On the other hand, a lot of younger people don’t feel the same need to brand themselves with an identity. Even some younger straight guys, who may not have same sex attraction, feel like it’s kind of narrow-minded to announce that they would never ever be capable of a same sex relationship.
A lot of younger people don’t view the world in the binary gender paradigm that older generations traditionally have. The concept of male and female have expanded a great deal for many people and the options are much greater than just gay, straight or bisexual these days. It’s a lot more complicated now. So when some people aren’t so quick to put themselves in a category, it doesn’t always mean they are in denial, closeted, or gay baiting. It often just means they are trying to be open-minded and inclusive.
I don’t understand why so many have a knee-jerk reaction that everyone has some sinister motive simply because they don’t conform to the way others choose to define themselves. I mean, we fought for decades to choose to decide for ourselves how we want to identify. It seems a little ironic that now we want to take that choice away from others when we don’t approve.
That being said, yes, I agree that if people are just being evasive in order to be accepted into a heteronormative society, then that’s not a good thing. I know in the past, many gay men came out first as bisexual because it seemed more palatable to many people. I was guilty of this myself and it made me suspicious of anyone claimed to be bisexual for years. But now we have pansexuality, non-binary genderism, transgenderism, asexuality, fluidity, and it’s far more accepted, sometimes even encouraged for males to experiments with their sexuality. So as long as someone isn’t a homophobe or promoting an anti-gay agenda, it doesn’t bother me at all if they want to hint that they’re not closed off to same sex relationships. If anything, I think they become role models for other straight guys by showing that there is nothing inherently wrong with same sex attraction, whether they choose to act on it or not.