Monday July 13, 2009

British singer Duncan James has shocked his legions of female fans — by revealing he’s bisexual.

The Blue singer told British tabloid the News of The World that he sleeps with men as well as women.

“I’m bisexual,” he said. “I’ve been in loving relationships with men as well as women — and I’m not ashamed.

“But even though I fancy men, I still fancy women too.”

“I was living a secret life,” he added. “I went through a process of asking what the f*** am I?

“Am I gay? Am I straight? Am I bi? That’s why I was so frightened about talking. Now, in my early 30s, I know who I am and I’m proud of who I am. I don’t want to hide anymore.

“I don’t feel I should launch a big comeback with Blue hiding this — I don’t want to go back to the time in the band when I felt I had to keep certain things quiet. I want to be out and say I’ve had relationships with men as well as women.

“So doing this interview gives me the ability to go forward.”

The 31-year-old says he first fell in love with a man eight years ago. “I wanted to be able to say to someone, ‘This is going on and I don’t know what to do,’ but I was too scared,” James revealed.

“My mother was the closest person to me. But I didn’t know how to tell her because I wanted her to love me and accept me. I was really paranoid and emotional.

“I flew her to Los Angeles for a holiday. I was thinking about it the whole trip — it was building up in my head.

“I’d never talked to my mum about sex and relationships. It was quite a taboo subject because we came from a Catholic upbringing.

“One night towards the end of the trip, I knocked on my mum’s door before she went to bed. I was looking down and avoiding her eyes. I said, ‘I need to talk to you’.

“She said, ‘Oh my God, what’s wrong, are you all right?’

“I responded, ‘I need to tell you something. I’ve been in a relationship with a guy and I’m really confused about it. I haven’t been able to talk to anyone for a couple of years.’

“She hugged me and couldn’t believe it. She said, ‘I thought you were going to tell me you were dying or something. Hundreds of people have had things with guys as well as girls. I love you, that doesn’t matter to me.’

“We were flooded with tears. It had come out. I’d told my mum and she still loved me. I went up to my room after and sat on my bed crying. I realized, ‘I can do this.’ It gave me the strength to start opening up to my close friends.

“I thought there might be weirdness but there wasn’t. All of the boys accepted it. We were perceived as lads who went around and slept with women but on the inside we had a lot of love for each other. We always hugged and kissed each other.

“I told Simon first. He went straight away, ‘Is that all you’re worried about? I love you man. That’s cool. You’re not alone. It doesn’t change anything for us.’

“I spoke to Lee next then Ant. They were really supportive too. After that I actually felt quite comfortable with myself.”

Tags: duncan james