Ncuti Gatwa has opened up about publically coming out in a new interview.
Over the last few years, the beloved talent has made massive waves for his popular roles in Sex Education, Barbie and his casting in the 14th season of Doctor Who.
However Gatwa’s incredible acting prowess hasn’t been the only thing that has garnered fan attention.
Back in September, the beloved talent publically confirmed that he was queer after years of remaining tight-lipped about his identity.
“I remember being at Manchester Pride, going through the streets with all my boys, shaking my cha-chas, living it up, when I saw this woman who looked exactly like my auntie,” Gatwa recalled during an interview with ELLE UK.
“We were holding hands, and she said to me, ‘I don’t really know why I’m here. I’m just here.’ I told her, ‘Honey, you don’t need to know. You absolutely. Do not. Need. To. Know. You’re here. Be proud of who you are.'”
Towards the end of his statement, the star reflected on having “never met another queer Rwandan person before,” stating: “I thought I was the only one in the world.”
Since that fateful day, the beloved talent has slowly started to open up about his coming-out journey.
During a recent sit down with British GQ, the Doctor Who star explained why he used his ELLE UK interview to confirm his identity.
“It sort of became a more complicated issue than I ever wanted it to be. It became a situation that kind of ran away from me,” he explained.
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He went on to say that it felt like the right moment to discuss his queerness before admitting that he’d “never been in the closet.”
“I just never talked about it. The work I do is what’s important,” he added.
The 31-year-old star also discussed his appearance in British Vogue’s Pride Issue – which featured him posing nude – and how it was meant to be a statement regarding his sexuality.
“I’m aware of the confusion it caused. But I kind of thought my participation in [the Pride issue] was a statement. Not to come for anyone, but I was like, you know, two plus two equals four,” he explained.
“I couldn’t be louder about this. I literally got naked. What’s the point in labelling anything? I’m not going to do that for people that I don’t know. I remember seeing stuff like, ‘You’ve taken up space from an openly queer person.'”
Towards the end of his statement, Gatwa expressed the importance of allowing people to explore their sexuality without pressure or scrutiny.
“If you think it’s that easy, I’m happy for you. That’s a very privileged position to be in,” he said.
“To think that sexuality is so easy, and talking about sexuality is so easy and existing with one’s sexuality is so easy. I’m so glad that you think it’s that easy, because the world isn’t like that.”
Read Gatwa’s full interview here.
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