Don’t miss our hottest news! Sign up today for our free newsletter.

Enter Your Email *

Pride Newsletter

Search form

Scroll To Top

#TV

#Movies

#Celebrities

#Music

#Interviews

#Queer Joy

#Coming Out

#20Questions

#Activism

#Beyoncé

#Bisexual

#BlackLivesMatter

#ColtonHaynes

#Dating

#Disney

#FirstPerson

#FrankOcean

#Geek

#GOT

#Kesha

#LaverneCox

#Lesbian

#LadyGaga

#LGBTQ+

#LoveSimon

#Men

#Netflix

#NickJonas

#OITNB

#Pride

#Rihanna

#RuPaulsDragRace

#Sex

#StarWars

#Style

#Travel

#TroyeSivan

#Women

#ZaynMalik

By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.

Coming Out

Kevin McHale Reveals Why He Hid His Sexuality While Filming Glee

"I wasn’t obviously shouting it from the mountaintops."

Taylor Henderson

Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!

Read Full Bio

Taylor Henderson

cornbreadsays

May 11 2018 2:31 PM EST

December 09 2022 9:12 AM EST

When people began tweeting congratulations at him last month, Glee alum Kevin McHale didn't realize he had just come out to the world.

"I was freaking out," he told Marc Malkin in a recent Facebook Live interview. "I was like, something happened that I don’t know about. And then I saw that it was the tweet. People were like, ‘Oh, you just came out.’ I was like, did I?"

In a sense, yes. McHale hadn't explicitly talked about his sexuality, but there were definitely signs. It was his Instagram selfies with Austin McKenzie, his now confirmed boyfriend, that initially caught people's attention. But it wasn't confirmed in most people's eyes until he tweeted that Ariana Grande's single was "gayer than me."

See on Instagram

McHale insists that he wasn't exactly hiding his sexuality and his close fans already knew. "I wasn’t obviously shouting it from the mountaintops,” he explained. “I think there was zero surprise.”

So why didn't he come out to the world sooner? Or during his six-season stint on Glee, an overtly LGBT-inclusive show?

He kept his sexuality to himself for his significant other's privacy. "The person I was with came from the most accepting family," he explained. "But one of the family members, he was terrified of them finding out.”