Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning he has been single – for good reason.
“I’ve never been in a relationship before,” Gunning, 40, said The Times of London in a profile published on Sunday, March 22, noting that her single status initially prevented her from realizing that she was identified as a queen. Everyone around me was gay. I never thought I could be gay.
Gunning, who came out as gay in 2022, cited his questions about his sexuality as a major reason for his decision to avoid romantic relationships.
“Well, not to get too deep, but maybe I didn’t want to go out with boys so I was finding a way to avoid it,” the actress told The Times. “I couldn’t flirt, I didn’t understand it, I was always friends with boys and I would mix them up with other friends.”
Gunning also linked her lack of relationship experience to her weight.
“It might be linked to the size, maybe because I was big,” he admitted to the newspaper. “It’s hard to say this because I don’t want it to seem like I’m saying it in the wrong way, because I’m not.
Gunning went on to say, “Something, I think, in retrospect, protects me from going, ‘I don’t like men.’ I was just like, ‘Oh, it’s not my time,’ or whatever. And then, before I knew it I was in my 30s. “
Without romance in his life, single Gunning began to focus on his acting career.
Take a look back at inspiring LGBT celebrity stories from over the years — including Wentworth Miller, Ellen Page, Jodie Foster and more.
“My work was my love and passion,” he said. “The characters that I played, I felt that I was probably living with trauma among many of them. I felt very sexual and I felt very connected to myself, so I was happy in many ways. It didn’t feel like I was lonely. I lived with my best mate. I felt content. I didn’t feel like I was missing anything.”
Gunning got his big break in 2024 Baby Reindeertaken from the comedian Richard Gadda one-man show about his life with an alleged stalker.
“I felt very protective of Richard,” he said The Times in his work experience Baby Reindeer. “I like filming, I like getting to know the crew. We get close, I’m always sad when it’s over.”
