Coronation Street legend Shobna Gulati comes out as non-binary aged 58: ‘I’m free to say it out loud’

British TV regular and Coronation Street star Shobna Gulati has come out as non-binary, revealing that they have always felt more like “a person” than a gender.

Speaking to their former Loose Women co-panelist Kaye Adams on her How To Be 60 podcast, Gulati, 58, said that they didn’t have the terminology to describe their gender while growing up.

“I’ve become more happy describing myself as a person. What do people call it now… non-binary. So, I suppose that’s who I am,” the actor said.

“I’ve never had a word for it, but I’ve learnt from our younger generation what that might look like in terms of a word, because I know what it feels like in terms of being me.”

Gulati, who now uses both she and they pronouns, said that their family have always understood and accepted that they are both “extremely feminine or extremely masculine”.

“All the way through my life I’ve never had the words for that and I’ve never managed to explain that and I suppose my immediate family have not really thought about it,” she continued.

“They’ve just thought: ‘Shobna is either extremely feminine or extremely masculine.’ Because I was just accepted as a person who fell out of the tree and equally the person who put on all this make-up and did a dance.”

Reflecting on how they came to the realisation, the actor said that they met a sound engineer on a show who described themself as non-binary.

“The sound person said to me that they were non-binary and I said, ‘What is that?’ So, then they explained and I thought – ‘Well, I feel like that, but I didn’t ever have that vocabulary.’

“They said that they saw themselves as a person and that the gender – the he or the she – wasn’t important to who they are. And I thought, ‘That’s all I’ve ever thought.’

Gulati continued: “I think now I’m free to say it out loud. I think people around me have accepted who I am for a long time without any explanation, but I suppose when I’m asked now, I’ll say it.”

Shobna Gulati is best known for playing Sunita Alahan in Britain’s longest-running soap opera, Coronation Street. 

Sunita appeared on the ITV drama between 2001 and 2013, with her biggest storylines including her on-off romance with shop owner Dev, and her kidnapping and near-death experience at the hands of Dev’s stalker, Maya.

In 2013, the character was killed off in a fire in Coronation Street’s pub, The Rovers. 

Gulati has appeared on a slew of other British TV staples, including Doctor Who, Vera, Doctors, and dinnerladies. In 2021, they played the role of Jay in the film adaptation of queer musical, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

In addition to coming out as non-binary on the How To Be 60 podcast, Gulati revealed that they are currently in a relationship, but if they were single, they would be open to dating all genders in the future.

“I think I’ve loved this person all my life,” they shared.

“That is also something I’m looking at – what that means to me. So yes, I would go for a person absolutely, regardless of their gender.”

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