I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star Jack Vidgen reveals the very moment he knew he was gay as he celebrates how liberating ‘coming out’ was for him
I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star Jack Vidgen has revealed the moment he knew he was gay.
The 24-year-old said he was around 14 or 15, watching his first Mardi Gras parade in Sydney.
‘My first Mardi Gras experience – I used to live on the corner of Oxford St and Hyde Park and our balcony would look over the whole of Oxford St,’ he said.
Liberating: I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star Jack Vidgen has revealed the very moment he knew he was gay
‘So kind of 14, 15-years-old, I was watching the parade with mum just in my mind going, ”Am I gay?” This was way before I came out.’
Jack said the parade was important because it helped him come to a point where he was comfortable enough to come out.
‘Getting to watch the parade, there’s all these little things that kind of build you up and lead you to the point to feel comfortable to come out,’ he explained.
Realisations: ‘So kind of 14, 15-years-old, I was watching the parade with mum just in my mind going, ”Am I gay?” This was way before I came out,’ he added. Here alongside a friend
Jack had a girlfriend until he was 19 before he came out as gay – an experience he called positive, with family and friends being supportive.
‘I had a really beautiful experience coming out, everyone in my life was so chill about it,’ he went on to tell the publication.
‘It wasn’t a big deal, it was so chill. So many people have not a good experience and that’s super sad to me. But I’ve had a really blessed time with coming out.’
Liberating: ‘It wasn’t a big deal, it was so chill. So many people have not a good experience and that’s super sad to me. But I’ve had a really blessed time with coming out’
Jack has come full circle and will preform at this year’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
Appearing on I’m A Celebrity last month, the blond-haired singer said he was worried being gay would be seen as ‘perverted’ or ‘dirty’ by others before he came out.
Speaking with AFL legend Robert ‘Dipper’ DiPierdomenico, Jack, who won Australia Got Talent in 2011, said fame changed the experience for him.
Candid: ‘I feel like I probably would have been ready to come out earlier,’ he said, before adding there was pressure on him after winning Australia’s Got Talent
‘I feel like I probably would have been ready to come out earlier,’ he said.
‘But probably because, just everything that happened and being known and in the public… and also [Australia’s Got Talent],’ he added.
Jack revealed how he had a girlfriend from age 17 to 19, but he described it as more of a ‘glorified friendship’ and that when he finally came out, it was an ‘incredible experience.’
Support: While in camp, AFL legend Dipper (pictured), 62, asked Jack when he realised he was attracted to men with the two men sharing a sweet moment together in the jungle
‘Oh it was incredible,’ the singer said of how it felt to come out as gay to friends and family. ‘[It was] one of the most incredible feelings of my life.’
Jack admitted however that he struggled over how some would perceive his sexuality.
‘It becomes just something in your head that’s like… dirty and disturbed. And it becomes… you think something’s perverted when it really isn’t,’ he said.
Struggles: Jack admitted however that he struggled over how some would perceive his sexuality. ‘It becomes just something in your head that’s like… dirty and disturbed. And it becomes… you think something’s perverted when it really isn’t,’ he said