Iain Lee has a popular radio host, comedian, and reality TV personality for the U.K. During a recent episode of his TalkRADIO show, the 46-year-old former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! contestant made a big reveal about his sexuality.
Lee opened up seeing a psychotherapist after getting into a bad car accident, and it was during his therapy sessions that he realized he was bisexual.
“He’s helped me realize that I’m probably bisexual,” he said on TalkRADIO. “So, I guess, I’m coming out.”
“This is me coming out, I suppose, is how they would call it, at the age of 46, and I’m terrified by it.”
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Lee went on to talk about how he first began sexually experimenting with “significantly older men” when he was a teenager, though he’s since come to identify those experiences as sexual abuse.
“I’ve been reminded of a lot of stuff that kind of started when I was about 14 or 15 years old, and would involve me basically engaged in sexual acts with significantly older men,” he recalled.
“This went on for quite a while, and I’ve always had a lot of confusion around it, because I started putting myself in these positions so that these things would happen again.”
After the broadcast, Lee took to Twitter to say he still feels “embarrassed and ashamed” about his attraction to men, but he’s “working on” accepting it.
He tweeted: “This week I kind of came out on air as bi and the support has been nuts. So like thanks. I’ll probably delete this tweet as I still feel embarrassed and ashamed and weird but I’m working on it.”
https://twitter.com/iainlee/status/1146490792300728321
We think it’s great Lee is doing the therapy thing and getting the support he needs.
His tweet has received an outpouring of well wishes.
Never be ashamed of who you are Ian. You’ve done the hard bit xx
— Dawn Townson (@dawnyprawn68) July 3, 2019
don’t delete it, it took me until I was 52 and married for nearly 30 yrs to opposite-sex partner to realise I COULD say I was bi, now #Pride with #bisexualpride shirt is pinned tweet ???. We need to be visible as bi to show other people they can say “I’m bi ?????????“ too
— Peter ??????? (@PeterNHerold) July 4, 2019
Never be ashamed of who you are matey. Keep the tweet up. One day you’ll look back on it and be glad that the shame and embarrassment has gone.
— Stu Mandry (@fizzypopstu) July 3, 2019
Don’t feel ashamed. I’m bi too and while some people I know don’t support it, I’ve realized that they’re the people who are wrong, not me. You are normal and you should be proud of who you are. Good people will support you, anyone who hates on you doesn’t deserve your time. ? x
— Siobhan #DinahAndOllieForever ?? (@slinehan1) July 3, 2019
The strength it takes to come out as who you really are is phenomenal, congratulations Iain 🙂 be the real you!
— Luke A (@JustLukeyA) July 4, 2019
Jesus Iain, I hate how much you suffer… I don’t know you but you seem like a lovely, altruistic, caring person. It’s cliche but those that think your being bi is in any way negative, can do one. Thankfully the comments here are overwhelmingly positive – take all of them x
— Grumpy Chumpy (@GrumpyChumpy) July 3, 2019
Related: Bisexual guy wonders if he’s gay or just experiencing a ‘bi-cycle’
Brian
For those who became sexually active around the same age as this guy (14/15), do you look back at it now as abuse if it was with significantly older guys?
I started at 15 and barely even looked that old. I knew the local cruising spots and had plenty of encounters with guys who clearly had to know I was underage. But I’ve never felt like it was anything remotely close to abuse. In retrospect, yeah, it’s creepy that so many guys were perfectly fine with messing around with a 15 year old, but it was definitely done willingly in my end. I was a horny teenage boy who was able to get my dick sucked on a regular basis, I was thrilled by it.
Michael007
I agree with you Brian. I never went ‘cruising’ but I did have sexual ‘events’ when I was 15 and upward, with older guys. I never ONCE looked back on it to put any blame on them. And I hope those who were younger than me (in much later years) never felt bad toward me because I helped facilitate their pleasures. When men like this radio guy do the reaching back thing and say they were abused . . . .well . . . .I dunno. I think it is most likely an excuse for their own guilt of performing homo acts. Some people can’t deal with that’s what they are doing. They look for something to attach it to, to help quell the guilt.
Kieran
“it was definitely done willingly in my end.” Ha ha I see what you did there Brian.
Brian
Heh, that was actually supposed to “on”. I’d say Freudian slip, but that’s something I’ve never been fond of. And it’s probably how I survived becoming sexually active right as the AIDS crisis was beginning. Had I liked that, I’m sure if be dead now.
Donston
I do feel like most people who engage in a lot of sexual activities at that young of an age is bound to have some difficulty developing a healthy self-esteem and sense of self and is often going to have a difficult time having healthy relationships. That’s especially the case for dudes in their early teens who hook up with much older guys. It often facilitates future self-destructive instincts or facilitates future resentment towards men or “gayness”. And yeah, it is still abuse even if you were horny and really wanted it.
Donston
At least the dude isn’t out here faking pride like so many people. Frankly, the dimensions in his orientation seem like the least of his struggles.
mr guy
Haha the shittty “journalism” is rightly being clowned by said popular radio host on his Twitter (seriously…how? When aside from Daniel V’s cynical sub-Maza rage bait, all you do is copy & paste from the likes of Pink News..yet somehow you eff it up!)This site needs a reboot. Or put this once sparky and iconoclastic site (under the old management) out of its misery.
Donston
From what I can tell it’s always been kinda trashy, yet it’s become an incredibly politically correct and often boring site with mostly copy and paste articles. I don’t see it going beyond where it’s at, because it’s still fairly popular.
seaguy
I think he is just using the car accident as cover to come out as bi. Cause I have a hard time believing it was the accident that made him realize he was bi.
Brian
You have a hard time believing it because it’s a stupid, misleading headline that Queerty made up. Try reading the article, not just the headline.
Aromaeus
I know this is a hard concept for many of you to grasp but an older man engaging in sexual acts with a teenager is wrong. It doesn’t matter if said teenager as an adult looks back on it fondly the fact of the matter is adults are supposed to be mature enough to say no.
Children (yes they are children) should be allowed to explore these things among their peers and not with adults. Also just because you look back on someone taking advantage of your raging hormones fondly, does not mean it should be the same for everyone. End of.
Brian
Nobody said it should be the same for everybody. But it is something plenty of us have experienced, wrong or not. I would imagine a lot more men today are a lot more cautious about it than were a few decades ago. And obviously no, that doesn’t mean all men.
EliottlovesLucas
I might like this guy!!!! Go to his tweets. He just did something that I don’t think I ever seen done by man on twitter before. He just basically told a bunch of queer busy bodies to f**ck off!!! He told them to stop telling him how to feel and what to think!! If gay guys ever grow a set off balls like this we’ll be all the better for it.
jcoberkrom
Give me a break. Somebody want’s some ink.