Kevin McHale: 'I Think There Was Zero Surprise' When I Came Out
Kevin McHaleraised more than a few eyebrows last month when he declared in a tweet that Ariana Grande’s new single, “No Tears Left to Cry,” was “gayer than me.”
Media outlets were quick tointerpret the tweetas his coming out moment. In a new interview, McHale — who starred in “Glee” and “When We Rise” — said the remark did reflect his identity as a gay man but that his friends, family members and many fans already knew.
“If somebody was a big fan and following everything I was doing [on social media], like the people I interact with on Twitter on a daily basis, I think there was zero surprise,” he told entertainment journalistMarc Malkinin a Facebook Live chat Thursday. “People knew. The organizations I’ve been supporting and all that sort of work has been apparent, at least to me.”
A post shared by Kevin McHale (@kevinmchale)on Jan 23, 2018 at 2:31pm PST
McHale said he kept quiet about his sexuality in the media during his years on “Glee” because he was in a relationship at the time.
“The person I was with came from the most accepting family,” McHale said. “But one of the family members, he was terrified of them finding out. So I was trying to be respectful of that.”
These days, he’s in a relationship with his “When We Rise” co-starAustin McKenzie. The two have been dating for a little over a year and haven’t been shy about sharing cozy photos with each other on their Instagram accounts.
Interestingly, McHale said he now worries that his “No Tears Left to Cry” tweet ― which received over 12,000 likes as of Friday afternoon ― was “disrespectful,” given that its lyrics seem to address the terrorist attack at Grande’s Manchester, England, concert in May 2017.
Still, he added, “better out than not. I’m like, great — that takes care of that.”
He also confirmed reports that he’s back in the recording studio, working on tunes of his own.
“It’s a long process,” he said, “but I do think music will be out soon.”
Watch Kevin McHale’s full interview with Marc Malkin below.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost.