X Factor star Matt Terry has declared he is “very proud” and “no longer afraid” after discussing coming out in a new interview.
The 30-year old shot to fame in 2016 becoming the 13th winner of the ITV show, which landed him a recording contract with Simon Cowell’s Syco Music. After he was dropped by the label, he went on star on stage in productions including Madagascar and The Grinch, before making a return to music in late 2023.
Now the singer-songwriter has opened up about his sexuality in his new single His Car, which he describes as an “apology” to the first man he fell in love with. Matt says his time on X Factor was “f***ing hard” due to tabloid speculation about his love interests, something that forced him to tell his then-lover their relationship had to remain a secret.
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“I said to him, ‘You’re not allowed to tell anyone about this’ and he loved me enough to do so, Matt told the Gay Times. “It’s such a regret of mine, and I’m just really sorry.”
(Image: mattterry/Instagram)
Matt admitted he’d been offered money by the media in the past to speak about his sexuality – something he refused every time. Now he is proudly doing it on his own terms and “taking back the power”.
“I’m too proud and have too much self-respect,” he explained to the same publication. “But now, I want to set the record straight with this song and video. I know people are gonna be like, ‘Is this news?'”
(Image: PA)
The video for His Car sees Matt embark on a road trip with a male partner, something he refers to as “my story” and “my truth”. Matt continued: “It’s one of the most important stories I’m going to tell. I’ve been hiding who I was, and I haven’t really opened up. I’ve never let anybody in.”
Matt went on to discuss the pressures of his newfound fame eight years ago, revealing he was given an ultimatum by his manager at the time who insisted he told her whether he was gay or not. He added that she told him she would have “massive egg on her face” if it turned out he was in fact gay.
(Image: PA)
Matt said he had “nobody to protect or help” him at the time, however, which ultimately prompted him to step away from the industry. He confessed he’d “never even been with a man” at that point, yet he was being hounded for an answer. “It was too much,” he cursed.
Now though, Matt says he feels like a “fully developed adult” and is “so happy. “I love the human I’ve discovered in myself, and I hope I can do the same for other people,” he continued. “Luckily, I have a family where I just came home one day and said, ‘So this is my partner and we’re together.’ The whole family said, ‘Awesome, what did you have for dinner?’ I live now with an open mind and open heart, and I feel like we should all live by the statement that we all say – love is love.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
