UK actor Jonathan Bailey, who is the dashing Fiyero in the two-part film adaptation of Broadway's Wicked, opened up about his sexuality and dancing through life in a British Vogue interview.
Although the 36-year-old Bridgerton heartthrob has played straight-identifying characters in TV/film (except the LGBTQ+ miniseries Fellow Travelers), Bailey is openly gay.
He previously shared with GQ about being told to conceal his homosexuality early in his career before ultimately coming out to friends and family in his 20s.
Bailey said he knew he was gay as an 11-year-old growing up in the small Oxfordshire village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell, but suppressed his identity due to fear and a lack of positive gay representation in the media.
Coming out was a gradual process for the actor, a journey that included being in a committed relationship with a woman.
He shared in the Vogue interview:
“It’s interesting with the binary, where you’re perceived to be either this or that. That’s how I saw it at the time, but there are so many nuances to it."
Bailey disclosed he was in a two-year relationship with a woman as a 20-something-year-old before embracing his true identity and publicly coming out as gay in 2018.
Reflecting on that time in his life, Bailey said:
"My experience of that relationship was not that I was in the shadows. She remains one of my best friends.”
When asked if there was a specific turning point when he realized he was gay, Bailey said:
"I think other people understood my sexuality before I was even aware of it."
The actor referred to his childhood, including rummaging through a trunk of clothes, playing dress up, "jumping around and being flamboyant," and putting on a show singing and dancing for his "grannies," channeling someone more like "Shirley Temple" than "Billy Elliot."
One definitive memory was when he was at a sleepover with his elementary school friends and enthusiastically asked them:
“Guys, guys, who else thinks they’re gay? Do you? I do. I do."
Bailey said it was a conversation he "really, really wanted to have, to see if everyone else was on the same page. But everyone went quiet.”
He was then hit with a major blow at school when a teacher embarrassed him in front of his classmates one day.
“I was having trouble with my work and he said, ‘Well, if you weren’t so busy being a fairy you’d understand.’”
As to his current relationship status, Bailey isn't spilling the tea. However, he did offer up that he's not afraid of being comfortable in public with a mate.
“I’ve always been a confident hand-holder in relationships,” he said but recalled an incident that triggered an unwelcome reaction.
“I had a boyfriend who wasn’t experienced at holding hands in public. We got heckled in London."
"But that kind of behaviour is now outweighed by the smiles you get.”
The topic shifted to Bailey's relationship with stardom.
“It felt quite hard-hitting after Bridgerton came out,” he said of the popular Shonda Rhimes Netflix period drama, now heading into a fourth season.
“I really struggled initially; I was overwhelmed by it. But the people in your life have to adapt too," said Bailey, adding:
"That’s the hardest thing: you see them struggling before you see it in yourself, someone pushing past your dear mum and dad to get a picture. I’m really good now at saying no to photos.”
And when asked if he ponders whether or not he might get "too big for his boots," he replied, “Let’s see. It would be good if you could keep your eye on me as we go through the next few years, tell me if I’m doing well or I’ve fallen down the [fame] hole.”
While the topic of relationships was off the table, Bailey disclosed that he wanted children, saying that fatherhood was "such a privilege for a man."
Because of his busy schedule, however, he's not in a rush to start a family until he's sure he can be "present" for a child.
"I’m reading books on adoption," he said, and closed the discussion with:
"I might coparent with a woman, but I’m thinking it will be with a man.”
Admirers were hilariously quick to offer the lad assistance in that department.
Fans were delighted over his co-parenting concept.
Meanwhile, others accepted the disappointing reality of their chances.
But seriously, who can hold it against him?
Until he commits to the monumental next chapter in his life, he has a busy 2025 ahead of him.
After swooning male and female audiences with his performance in Wicked that The Guardian described as "an outrageous scene-stealer as the heterocamp Fiyero," Bailey will reprise the character again for the second half of the two-part film adaptation of the musical phenomenon in November 2025.
From February 10 to May 10, Bailey will return to his theatrical roots playing the titular character in Nicholas Hytner's production of Shakespeare's Richard IId II at London's Bridge Theater.
In July, Bailey will star in the seventh film of the Jurassic Park franchise, Jurassic World Rebirth—the fourth installment of the Jurassic World series—alongside fellow ensemble castmates Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali.
As an influential LGBTQ+ leader in the entertainment industry, Bailey is making sure the younger generation will never experience the hardships he had to when hiding his sexuality out of fear while growing up without representation.
He has been working with a new partnership with LGBTQ+ youth charity Just Like Us, which works with schools and colleges to promote visibility and to ensure young queer students can thrive as their authentic selves.
Last year, Bailey launched The Shameless Fund. The charity "aims to help members of the queer community across the world live freely and authentically" by raising money through celebrity and sponsorships like the fashion brand Loewe for its "Drink Your Milk" collection.
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