Washington DC [US], November 18 (ANI): Jonathan Bailey opened up about his experience growing up gay and how it affected his school life.
“I felt scared and I felt alone and I felt entirely limited at various points in my life,” he said in an interview, according to People.
Bailey is an ambassador for the U.K.-based nonprofit Just Like Us, which supports LGBTQ+ youth in schools.
It is found by the organisation in a survey that LGBTQ+ individuals aged 11 to 18 were twice as likely to experience anxiety and depression, and to be bullied.
“I experienced all of that,” the actor said while refering to the findings, adding, “It became clear quite early on that something very specific and clear to me about who I was, it wasn’t safe and it wasn’t celebrated.”
During Bailey’s cover story interview with People, he opened up about becoming more comfortable with reality as he gets older.
“At various moments in my life, I’ve been like, ‘I’ve got this,’ which is sometimes met by a deep spike of fear and self-doubt. When I was really young, I was very confident about who I was, and maybe I lost that as I grew up,” he said.
“We’re all sort of trying to get back to the origin, aren’t we? But I was swimming in the sea about an hour ago with a good gang, and I felt all right in my skin,” Bailey continued, according to People.
Bailey has been named People Magazine’s ‘Sexiest Man Alive for 2025,’ an honour he described as both flattering and “absolutely absurd.”Bailey’s name was officially announced on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’.
Speaking to People magazine about the title, Bailey said, “It’s a huge honour. Obviously, I’m incredibly flattered. And it’s completely absurd. It’s been a secret, so I’m quite excited for some friends and family to find out.”
Having started his acting career at the age of 7 with the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, Jonathan Bailey quickly mastered his craft both on the screen and on stage. While he got his first major TV break with the hit murder drama ‘Broadchurch’, it was his performance as Lord Anthony Bridgerton in the Netflix show ‘Bridgerton’ that brought him much applause.
His other notable credits include ‘Fellow Travelers’ and ‘Heartstopper’. Most recently, Bailey appeared in ‘Wicked’ and ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’. (ANI)
