Big Brother’s Matty opens up to straight male housemates about growing up gay

Big Brother housemate Matty has spoken of the isolation he felt growing up LGBTQ+ on the Isle of Man in conversation with housemates, confirming that he’s gay in the process.

Matty was one of 16 housemates to enter the UK Big Brother house on Sunday (8 October), on the first episode of the revived reality series.

While the house was already a temporary home to other LGBTQ+ housemates – Welsh bartender Jenkin revealed that he is gay before he entered, while 18-year-old youth worker Hallie opened up about being a trans woman in episode two – Matty has now disclosed that he too is part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Matty is a 24-year-old geriatrics doctor, from the Isle of Man. In his introductory video tape, he said he has a penchant for “ecstatic dancing”, which involves “dancing under the moon and the stars… howling [and] going crazy”.

He is one of two housemates currently sporting a well-looked-after perm. The other is 21-year-old butcher, Tom.

Matty self-describes himself as a hippie, explaining that, to him, that means “total freedom to travel, to live, to work, to love, to eat from a bin”.

As a child, he used to watch Big Brother with his mother, and that was what initially inspired him to apply to be on the ITV reboot. 

“I grew up in such a small place where I didn’t really see many people who felt like me,” he said.

“I remember watching Big Brother and I could see myself in all these characters from a cross section of society, and I thought: ‘Oh, maybe I would fit in there’. So, I always wanted to apply.”

Big Brother’s Matty confirmed he’s gay in a conversation with housemates

Matty confirmed that he is gay in a conversation with housemates broadcast on Tuesday (10 October).

During a chat with straight male housemates Paul, Dylan and Zak, on Tuesday, Matty said that while he had a “very normal middle-class” upbringing, where his family had “everything [they] wanted,” his home town wasn’t progressive.

“It was hard growing up on the Isle of Man, not seeing anyone else who looked like me,” he admitted.

“It is beautiful but it’s not very progressive. When I came out, I was the only person I knew who was gay. So, I had to deal with that all by myself.”

He added that he came out at the age of 13.

“There were no opportunities for me to be getting with boys and exploring myself until I moved away. I would never be telling men this because I wouldn’t be hanging around with men that much. I have one male friend who is straight.”

Big Brother continues from 9pm on weekdays on ITV2.