George Shelley tells Ian McKellen: ‘My mum struggled with me being gay – but now she’s proud of me’

The former Union J star came out after the band split 
Coming out: George Shelley struggled with coming out to his mum
Jennifer Ruby25 October 2018
The Weekender

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George Shelley has told how his mother initially struggled to come to terms with his sexuality when he came out as gay in an interview with Sir Ian McKellen.

The pop star, 25, rose to fame on the X Factor in 2011 with boyband Union J, who went on to have chart success with their self-titled debut album in 2013.

Speaking to the Oscar-nominated actor for Gay Times, Shelley said that coming out to his family back in 2016 proved difficult after being “conditioned” to think that it would jeopardise his career.

“How do I touch on this? I guess my mum... It's a difficult subject still. She's proud of me now,” Shelley told McKellen.

Out: George Shelley with JJ Hamblett, Jaymi Hensley and Josh Cuthbert
Tim P. Whitby/Getty

“But the first thing she said to me was, 'What am I going to tell my friends?' It was a lack of understanding.”

The singer added: “Once she realised that there's this whole world out there, all of a sudden she was like, 'Oh I think it's pretty cool to have a gay son.' I was like, 'See mum. This is what I mean. Come to London for a year and spend a bit of time seeing the world.'

Newcomers: George Shelley and Lilah Parsons will host the ball for the first time alongside Dave Berry

“That's what we need to do: educate kids of what the real world is like, and how much beauty there is in understanding who you are and how you can carve your future.”

Shelley said that he struggled to be vocal about his sexuality as Union J rose to fame as music industry bosses didn’t want to alienate their young female fanbase.

“People knew, and then I started going out, Jaymi (Hensley) would take me to these clubs, and people would see me with these guys,” he said.

“I'd be kissing these guys on nights out like any other 20-year-old would do when you're experimenting, and that's absolutely OK.

“But because of the situation I was in – in the public eye selling records aimed at young girls – I feel like I was made to believe, and made to think, because of the things I was being told and the way I was conditioned, that it would've jeopardised the band's career. And in turn jeopardise my own career.”

Read the full interview with George Shelley by Ian McKellen in this month’s issue of Gay Times, out on Friday.

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