Actor Hugh Sheridan says he’s been with men and women but prefers not to label his sexuality
Hugh Sheridan. (Getty/Sheridan Australia via Instagram)
Hugh Sheridan, the hunky Australian actor known for his role on Packed to the Rafters, has revealed that he has been in relationships with both men and women.
In a candid essay for Stellar Magazine, the 35-year-old sought to stress that while he does not place a label on his sexual orientation, he has come to accept his attraction to more than one gender.
Sheridan has long faced scrutiny and speculation for his evasiveness when it comes to his private life, but in a hair-plugs-and-all piece, he said he’s ready to come out and be more open on the topic.
He revealed that he had a relationship with a man when he was younger, but was advised that it would dampen his acting career if he came out.
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Hugh Sheridan: ‘No-one ever sticks up for people who don’t pick a label.’
He said “I’ve never felt I really knew who I was and I didn’t like the sounds of the labels that people were giving me so I decided to say nothing.
“But lockdown gave me time to reflect and it occurred to me that no-one ever sticks up for people who don’t pick a label.”
“Some people are working things out slower than others,” he said, adding that he was “never ashamed” of his sexuality.
“There must be a lot more people out there who feel how I feel – like the words still don’t fit.
“Maybe this is also my way of letting people know that I’m still single, and everyone is on the smorgasbord!”
Sheridan said that he was advised by industry leaders to hide his sexuality for the sake of his career.
“Figuring out that I connected with the same sex the way I did the opposite sex was almost a relief, so that advice was confusing,” he said.
“The way it was explained to me was that women wouldn’t want to pay to see a movie or TV show if they knew they couldn’t have sex with the leading man. And it made me angry.”
