Wicked star Cynthia Erivo explains why she keeps her love life private
Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. (Getty)
Cynthia Erivo, who will be starring as Elphaba in the upcoming movie musical Wicked, has opened up about her relationships and why she’s so private about them.
The actress and singer came out as bisexual in 2022 and is very open about her sexuality but is not as open about who she’s dating.
In an interview with Vanity Fair ahead of the highly anticipated release date for Wicked, Erivo said: “I’m very tight-lipped with my relationships, ’cause I don’t think that my relationship is for anyone else but for me. I spend so much of my life sharing everything — whether it’s my work or my soul or my life in speeches. I think I give enough of myself that I’m allowed to keep something for me.”
Though Erivo said maybe she would change her stance in the future, she believes that it’s “okay” for people not to know the ins-and-outs of her life.
“It’s enough for people to know that I’m a queer person who could have relationships with men or women or neither,” she continued.
Despite keeping her relationships private, she is very “comfortable” showing the world who she is as a queer woman.
“I feel really grateful for getting to see the full picture of who I am and who I want to be. I feel comfortable in myself. There’s an ease that I’ve experienced these last couple of years where I just feel very, very much like me,” Erivo said.
Erivo is aware that she, being both Black and proudly queer, is someone that many people look up to: “I know that there are young people who are seeking out women in entertainment who are proudly queer and just thriving and living and enjoying their lives.”
This is not the first time Erivo has addressed her queerness publicly, previously giving a speech at the Los Angeles LGBT Center Gala in May. During the speech, she touched on how she herself had a “deep admiration of anyone who could fully embody their true authentic self” when she wasn’t out.
She said that she felt like she was “inside a glass box” looking at the LGBTQ+ community and wanting to be a part of it but it took time for her to outgrow the box.
“But now the glass is shattered. And there is no box in sight, and I have walked out into the wide open spaces into the arms of people and it feels like home,” Erivo said.
Erivo will be starring alongside Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey in the new Wicked movie, with Grande playing Erivo’s best friend Glinda and Bailey playing Erivo’s love interest Fiyero.
Wicked is out in theatres on November 22.
