“I realized I was a big old gay. I was like, that’s what it’s been. That’s what it is,” the Netflix star said
Jessica Gunning is proud to embrace her sexuality.
The Baby Reindeer star, 38, appeared as a guest on the Reign with Josh Smith podcast on Monday, June 3, and reflected on the “massive moment” when she was finally able to come out as gay.
In the Netflix hit series, which is inspired by a true story, creator Richard Gadd portrays himself as a character named Donny. He’s ultimately stalked by Gunning’s character, Martha, and sexually assaulted by another.
During the podcast, Gunning opened up about the theme of self-love in the show, before delving into her own experience with the topic.
“Do you feel like you’re stepping into yourself in new ways now?” Smith asked.
“Well, a big thing happened to me and maybe I’ll just talk about it. I came out actually in November ‘22,” Gunning replied as Smith welcomed her to the club.
“Thank you very much. Thank you. And that was a mega, mega thing for me because I, for so long, I’m surrounded by gays,” she said. “Like all my friends are gay. So it wasn’t that I was, like, repressing anything. It was just that I didn’t think I could be and I still can’t articulate it in the best way.”
The English actress stated that before long, her feelings were too strong to deny.
“But yeah, I realized I was a big old gay. I was like, that’s what it’s been. That’s what it is,” she said.
Gunning added, “And that was like a massive moment where everything kind of clicked. And I made sense of myself then because for so long, I’d thought — and I’m a bigger woman — and I thought maybe it was to do with, like, my size. But I felt a little bit almost alien or like I was tagging along.”
