27 celebrities, actors, and reality stars who came out in 2023

The Netflix reality star Chloe Veitch came out as bisexual in April in an interview with The Sun.

Veitch said that she felt that she needed to come out after appearing on a new British series called "The Big Celebrity Detox."

"Doing breath work forced me to dig deeper," Veitch said. "I realized, 'This is what's bothering you — you're bisexual and you haven't told anyone.' I've definitely been battling it, to be honest. I mean, being in and out of little flings with girls. I felt like it was my dirty little secret so it has taken the weight off my shoulders."

"Because I've been on heterosexual dating shows, I'm just a bit anxious of public opinion," Veitch continued. "But at the end of the day, if I'm happy, that's all that matters. I'm itching to go out there and date both guys and girls. It's really exciting."

Veitch has appeared in three separate Netflix reality series: "Too Hot To Handle," "The Circle," and "The Perfect Match." While all three series have featured bisexual contestants, "Too Hot To Handle" and "Perfect Match" were mainly geared toward heterosexual relationships.

Veitch told The Sun that her celebrity crush was the "Love Island" star Megan Barton Hanson, who also opened up about her bisexuality after leaving the show.

In January, "The Last of Us" star Bella Ramsey came out as nonbinary during an interview with The New York Times.

When asked about her identity, the 19-year-old actor said: "I guess my gender has always been very fluid. Someone would call me 'she' or 'her,' and I wouldn't think about it, but I knew that if someone called me 'he,' it was a bit exciting."

Ramsey added: "I'm very much just a person. Being gendered isn't something that I particularly like, but in terms of pronouns, I really couldn't care less."

Although Ramsey said she didn't mind what pronouns are used for her, the actor told GQ a month later that she didn't like to be referred to as a woman.

"This is what bothers me more than pronouns: being called a 'young woman' or a 'powerful young woman,' 'young lady,' but I'm just not," she said. "'Catherine Called Birdy,' I was in dresses. 'Young Elizabeth,' I was in a corset. And I felt super powerful in that. Playing these more feminine characters is a chance to be something so opposite to myself, and it's really fun."

Ramsey became a breakout star after "The Last of Us" season one aired on HBO. Ramsey plays a lesbian character called Ellie.

Lil Nas X had already come out initially as gay in 2019. However, in January, the rapper tweeted that he may be "a little bisexual."

The full tweet said: "be fr would y'all be mad at me if i thought i was a little bisexual."

Nas added in a second tweet: "that was my last time coming out the closet i promise."

Nas has not said anything about his sexual identity since January but has received lots of support from fans.

In April,  an image of the rapper kissing the singer PinkPantheress went viral. The "Montero (Call Me Be Your Name)" artist responded, saying: "she had food on her lip ! i was getting it off!"

Noah Schnapp was another big star who came out in January.

The "Stranger Things" actor shared a video on TikTok joking about his friends' reaction to him coming out to them.

"When I finally told my friends and family I was gay after being scared in the closet for 18 years and all they said was 'we know,'" the caption said.

"I guess I'm more similar to Will than I thought," he added, referring to his "Stranger Things" character, Will Byers.

Last year, Schnapp said in an interview with Variety that Will was gay and in love with his friend Mike, played by Finn Wolfhard. Schnapp added that he didn't know about Will's sexuality until season four.

Schnapp received support from fans and his "Stranger Things" costars after coming out.

Wolfhard told GQ in February that he was "just really proud" of Schnapp. "When I saw it, I just had a big smile on my face," he said.

Alison Brie seemingly came out during an episode of the BuzzFeed YouTube series "Celebs Read Thirst Tweets."

While promoting her new film "Somebody I Used To Know" with her husband, Dave Franco, the pair read out NSFW tweets from fans.

"Listen, I am bisexual for a reason, and that reason is strictly to be used in a threesome by Dave Franco and Alison Brie," Brie read before high-fiving Franco.

She then said: "That's also why I'm bisexual."

Franco then teased his wife, saying: "You've been waiting for this tweet from someone you don't know who they are or what they look like?"

Mo'Nique spoke about her sexuality during her latest Netflix comedy special "My Name Is Mo'Nique" in April.

Toward the end of the set, the comedian said that one of her relatives, Uncle Tina, was gay and her mother — Mo'Nique's grandmother — only loved her privately, because she felt that being gay was a sin.

Mo'Nique said that this made it hard for her to open up about her own sexuality growing up, but she eventually told her husband, Sidney Hicks.

"'Daddy, I want to be with another woman, sexually,'" the comedian said she told him. "And he looked at me, so beautifully and so patient and so loving, and said, 'Bitch, me too!' He said, 'You find that bitch and we will fuck that bitch together!'"

While Mo'Nique did not specify what her sexuality was, she said that she was attracted to women but was "not all the way" a lesbian.

The Oscar-winning comedian is best known for her roles as Nicole "Nikki" Parker in "The Parkers" and Mary Lee Johnston in "Precious."

In February, the Czech soccer player Jakub Jankto became the first active international men's player to announce he was gay.

Jankto came out through a video shared on Twitter.

"Like everybody else, I have my strengths, I have my weaknesses; I have a family, I have my friends," he said. "I have a job, which I have been doing it as best as I can, for years, with seriousness, professionalism, and passion. Like everybody else, I also want to live my life in freedom without fears, without prejudice, without violence, but with love. I am homosexual, and I no longer want to hide myself."

The 27-year-old sports star is a player for the Spanish La Liga team Getafe CF, but he is currently on loan to the Czech First League club Sparta Prague. Both clubs released statements in support of Jankto after he came out.

In recent years, more and more soccer stars have felt comfortable revealing their sexuality.

"Football is a little bit homophobic, but I trust that with my example it's going to get better," Jankto told the Financial Times in March, adding that he felt coming out in the sport was "always a tough decision."

Jankto said that FIFA, the international governing body of association football, could "help more" in tackling prejudices within the game but felt that the problem was universal.

Jankto also said he told his close friends and family last year, including his former partner Markéta Ottomanská, with whom he has a 3-year-old son. Ottomanská and Jankto broke up in 2021.

Campbell Johnstone is another athlete who came out as gay this year, and he was the first New Zealand rugby player to do so.

Johnstone, who has since retired from the sport, came out publicly in January during an interview with the Australian news show "Seven Sharp."

"If I can be the first All Black that comes out as gay and take away the pressure and stigma surrounding the issue, it can actually help other people," Johnstone said. "Then the public will know that there is one in amongst the All Blacks and it could be one of the final pieces in the puzzle sports-wise that gives everyone closure."

The former rugby player said that he didn't come out during his All Blacks career because he was still struggling with his sexual identity.

"Within myself, I was never comfortable with the whole concept and my dream was to be an All Black," Johnstone said. "I pushed that side of me down deeper and deeper and I've been to some interesting places with that. It would come to the surface. I may have had a bad game and I would look at that side of me and blame that side for it… It's hard living a lie."

The "Insecure" star Curtis Hamilton came out during the first episode of MTV's "The Real Friends of WeHo" in January.

The new series follows the lives of a group of successful LGBTQ+ celebrities and businessmen.

Hamilton told TV Insider: "I was super scared. I hadn't told people in close proximity in my life. One of my best friends found out on Twitter and was pissed. He just felt so bad that I didn't tell him, but that's just the life I've been living."

The actor continued: "For me to go on a reality show and open up to the world with something I've just been telling the people that know me the most about, it was really scary. But I just felt it was time. I'm still scared."

The soap-opera star Alexander Lincoln came out on social media last year.

In November, Lincoln shared an Instagram post to celebrate being shortlisted for breakthrough performance at the British Independent Film Awards for his performance in "In From The Side." In the movie, the actor played a rugby player who was gay.

A fan responded to the post: "I loved the movie and its actors are still very handsome but I still think that the actors are posing as gay but they are not. Is it my doubt?"

Lincoln then replied: "Thanks so much- really appreciate it!!!! And no, im not straight."

Lincoln clarified the comment earlier this year in an interview with Attitude magazine.

"I think the bottom line I want to convey is: I've been with women, and I've been with men, and I don't prescribe to a label because I've never felt that that definition has offered me any clarity," the "Emmerdale" actor said.

Lincoln added that he wanted to be a role model for the next generation.

"I think the main thing that I've found in my experience is the need of anyone who finds out about your sexuality to define it for them," he said, adding that he felt labeling himself "was a moot point."

Lincoln continued: "I feel that this need for clarity from anyone who comes out as bi, bi-curious, pan or anything where the lines are blurred a little more is damaging and can also exclude those in the LGBTQ+ community from feeling like they are a valued member of it."

In February, the YouTube star Joe Tasker came out in a video shared on the social media platform.

"I'm gay. So there we go. That's the first bit done," Tasker said. "There's so many coming out videos now than when I was younger. When I was younger, you suppressed it and you just got on with your stuff."

Tasker also said that he had been dating his fellow YouTube star and boyfriend Jack Biggs for "nearly four years."

"I've finally found someone who's as weird as me," he said. "And we are in love!"

Tasker received a lot of support from his fans after the video was posted, and he later thanked them in an Instagram post.

In the past Diplo has hinted about his sexuality.

He tweeted in 2016: "@AngelHaze I'm only half gay and I don't play guitar let's hang."

In an Instagram post in 2019, the American DJ told fans that his jet had a cracked screen before joking "I might by gay."

However, in an interview on "The High Low with EmRata" in March, Diplo opened up about his sexuality after host Emily Ratajkowski said that he told her that he was "a little gay."

The 44-year-old said that he's not "aroused" by men but there are "a couple guys" he would date.

"I don't want to define that I'm gay, but I think the best answer I have is I'm not not gay," the DJ said.

He added: "I'm sure I've got a blowjob from a guy before… I mean, getting a blowjob is not that gay."

Diplo also said that his TikTok "For You" page often features posts of men chopping wood, which he finds "sexy."

"I don't know if that's the thing that's gonna send me over to the gay side completely, but they're pretty hot," he said.

Chicago White Sox player Anderson Comas came out as gay in an Instagram post earlier this year.

In February, the baseball player captioned a photo of himself: "Disclaimer: if you're homophobic this post is may not for you or maby yes so you can see we all matters and we all are the same…????????"

He continued: "This may be my most personal thing I ever share and it's that I'm proudly and happily part of the LGTBQ+ community ????️‍???? I'm also a human with a great soul, I'm respectful, I'm a lover, I love my family and friends and that's what really matters, I enjoy my work a lot, being a professional baseball player is the best thing that happened to me so I just wanna say something to those people that says that gay people can not be someone in this life."

Comas added: "Well look at me I'm Gay and I'm a professional athlete so that didn't stopped me to make my dreams come true, I'm doing this cause I wanna be an inspiration for those like me out there fitting for their dreams, please don't listen to those stupid things that people say about us, fight for your dreams, believe in yourself and go for it ????❤️"

Following his announcement, Chris Getz, the assistant general manager of the Chicago White Sox, shared his support for Comas in a statement posted by the team on Twitter.

In June, Greta Van Fleet's frontman Josh Kiszka came out to his fans in an Instagram post.

In the post, Kiszka criticized legislators in Tennessee for targeting the LGBTQ+ community with numerous restrictive laws.

"Where I've settled a home in Tennessee, legislators are proposing bills that threaten the freedom of love," the vocalist said. "It's imperative that I speak my truth for not only myself, but in hopes to change hearts, minds, and laws in Tennessee and beyond."

He added: "These issues are especially close to my heart as I've been in a loving, same-sex relationship with my partner for the past eight years. Those close to me are well aware, but it's important to me to share publicly."

In August, Kiszka told Rolling Stone that he thought he would be targeted for speaking out.

"Everything had been met with love and acceptance and humility and respect, and that was a huge wave of reassurance that things are moving in the right direction," he said.

In November, Ncuti Gatwa described himself as queer for the first time in a GQ profile.

The new "Doctor Who" actor is best known for playing gay teen Eric Effiong in Netflix's "Sex Education," but he has been private about his own sexuality.

"It was very weird going from high school where being the queer, Black kid you were nobody's pick of the bunch, to getting thrown into the Glasgow gay scene," Gatwa told GQ. "I was in a white gay environment [and] as a Black man, I was deeply, deeply sexualized."

Gatwa said he came out to his mother five years ago, but added: "I've never been in the closet, you know. I just never talked about it. The work I do is what's important."

Miss Benny came out as a trans woman in a Time magazine essay in June.

Benny said that she first realized she was a girl when she was 8, but was finally encouraged to transition after watching a queer TV show called "Veneno" in 2020.

"It felt as if I had lived with a stuffy nose my whole life and then suddenly my breathing airways opened, and I discovered everybody else has been breathing freely the whole time," Benny wrote. "And now, I too can breathe and enjoy my life the same way everyone else does."

The essay was published a few days after Benny appeared in Netflix's "Glamorous." Her character, Marco, also transitions in the show, after Benny pitched the storyline.

Benny said of the show's creator Jordon Nardino: "I braced myself for the worst, but instead we bonded over our love for 'Veneno' and expressed how we both wanted to make something with that kind of importance."

The former "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star came out as bisexual on an episode of "The Real Housewives of Orange County."  

On season 17, episode four, which aired in June, Armstrong gathered the other housewives together to reveal her sexuality to them.

"Most people are surprised to find out that I'm bisexual probably because just because of stereotypes," Armstrong said in a confessional interview. "I mean, it's not something I broadcast, but I'm open to all people who have great souls and that you can love."

In July, J-pop idol Shinjiro Atae came out as gay during a live fan event in Tokyo, Japan, according to Billboard.

After the event, he posted pictures of the event to Instagram and captioned the post: "To all my fans, today was a very special day for me. For years, I struggled to accept a part of myself...But now, after all I have been through, I finally have the courage to open up to you about something. I am a gay man."

Atae said that he had been struggling to admit he was gay for years. He also said he held the fan event to come out to his fans.

"RuPaul's Drag Race" star Adore Delano came out as a trans woman in July.

Delano shared a video on Instagram in which she opened up about her transition. 

"I wanted to let everybody know that I am transitioning, and I kept it really kind of hush-hush the first three months because I wanted to go through the beginning stages of puberty privately," Delano said.

Delano said she presented as a girl when she was a teenager and had support from her mom. However, Delano said she stopped presenting as a girl to advance her career and appear on "American Idol" when she was 18.

"It was almost like a sacrifice in order to get what I wanted career-wise," Delano said.

After "American Idol," she started performing in drag. She eventually decided to transition.

Former "Bachelorette" star Gabby Windey came out during an appearance on "The View" in August.

While giving a relationship update on the show, Windey said that she was dating another woman, surprising the panel.

"I think it was always a whisper in me that got louder and louder and I didn't really know how to pay attention to it. I think when this happens there's some shame surrounding it so I think I had to navigate through the shame," Windey said. 

When asked by host Joy Behar if she is only attracted to women, Windey said: "I think so. I think it's just like my girl. She's the best."

Windey later revealed in an Instagram post that her girlfriend is comedy and TV writer Robby Hoffman.

"Heartstopper" star Joe Locke officially came out as gay in August.

Locke said in an interview with Teen Vogue that he had never publicly confirmed his sexuality before, despite fans of the show assuming he is gay.

"People have assumed and written it and I haven't ever corrected anyone because I haven't felt the need to. But I've never specifically stated my sexuality," Locke said. "I have been openly gay since I was, like, 12."

Television host and comedian Wayne Brady came out as pansexual in an interview with People.

In August, Brady explained to the publication that he has been on a soul-searching journey since Robin Williams died in 2014, which led to his discovery of his sexuality.

"I've also been attracted to certain men in my life, but I've always pushed that aside because of how I was raised, and because I live in today's world, and it's scary as shit," Brady said. 

However, Brady said that to be his best self, he had to be honest about his identity.

"I'm still coming together. But If I'm healthy, then I can go onstage at 'Let's Make A Deal' and be the best Wayne Brady that everybody wants and expects," the TV host said.

Reality star Paulie Calafiore came out as bisexual in August after his elimination from "The Challenge: USA."

Before his elimination in episode three, Calafiore opened up about repressing his sexuality in high school.

After his elimination, Calafiore confirmed to GLAAD that he is bisexual and sexually fluid.

"I feel good about finally being able to talk about this," Calafiore said. "It was hard. I found it easier to talk to the producers about it in the confessional room and everything."

He added: "I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders."

"RuPaul's Drag Race" alum Jade Jolie came out as trans in October.

Jolie wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Deciding to choose myself and move forward with my transition."

Jolie, who appeared on season five of "Drag Race," said in another post that she had begun hormone replacement therapy treatment.

Disney star Karan Brar came out as bisexual in a Teen Vogue essay about his mental health struggles.

In the article published in November, the "Jessie" star said he tried to compartmentalize his sexuality. One day, after a night of drinking, Brar said he came out to his fellow Disney stars Sophie Reynolds and the late Cameron Boyce.

"The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted it. I could barely see straight, but I ended up trying to do some damage control anyway," Brar said. "They interrupted me by hugging me from behind. Again, I told them I should move out. They told me I was being stupid."

Brar said that he still struggled with internalized homophobia after coming out to Boyce and Reynolds. He said he eventually received treatment for his mental health issues.

Brar said he is doing better now after being diagnosed and treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder.

The Prime Minister of Andorra, Xavier Espot Zamora, came out as gay in September in an interview,People reported at the time.

In an interview with Andorra Radio and Television, Zamora said: "I'm gay. I've never hid it."

He added: "If this helps many children, young people or teenagers who are going through a difficult time see that in the end, regardless of their condition or sexual orientation, you can prosper in this country and reach the highest magistracy, then I am happy to express it."

Zamora is Andorra's first openly gay prime minister.

Billie Eilish said she was outed by a red-carpet reporter in December.

A month before the event, Eilish spoke about being attracted to women in an interview with Variety.

"I've never really felt like I could relate to girls very well," she told the magazine. "I love them so much. I love them as people. I'm attracted to them as people. I'm attracted to them for real."

While attending Variety's Hitmakers event in December, she was asked by another Variety reporter if she had meant to come out in the interview.

"No, I didn't," Eilish said. "But I kind of thought, 'Wasn't it obvious?' I didn't realize people didn't know. I just don't really believe in it. I'm just like, 'Why can't we just exist?'"

After the event, Eilish criticized the reporter in an Instagram post.

"thanks variety for my award and for also outing me on a red carpet at 11 am instead of talking about anything else that matters i like boys and girls leave me alone about it please literally who cares stream 'what was i made for,'" she wrote.

This article was originally published on June 21, 2023, and was most recently updated on December 20, 2023.