Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning, who won the Culture Award at the Attitude Awards on Wednesday, October 9, has revealed what it was like coming out as gay aged 36 in November 2022.
The actress, who shot to fame thanks to her award-winning role in the Netflix series, has been a longtime LGBTQ+ activist. She revealed it was a “mega, mega thing” for her to come out before Christmas. The star said it was a “little secret” she had been keeping, even from herself. Jessica proudly shared her sexuality in an interview as a story was published, quoting her calling herself a “big old gay”.
However, when collecting the Culture Award at this year’s Attitude Awards, Jessica shared: “I kind of meant it in a throwaway way, like ‘big ol’ gay’. But the next thing it is like ‘Jessica Gunning comes out as a big, old gay’. I mean those three words are true so I guess I have to own it.”
Jessica starred in the 2014 film Pride, which portrayed a group of gay activists joining the miners’ strike in the 1980s. To celebrate the film’s tenth anniversary, Jessica was invited to do a question-and-answer session with fans. Speaking on stage, she said: “I realised I actually hadn’t seen the film since coming out, so I said I would love to be there and watch it.
“It was really emosh actually. I have always obviously been a big, old gay but it took me 36 years to realise it. As I was watching, me on the screen I was like ‘I am gay there’. I should have known in hindsight because I cried so much during that film, all the time and even in my audition. As I left the first audition, I said to Stephen the writer, ‘this is the best thing I have ever read, I cried my t**s off’.”
Jessica continued: “It has just been amazing to watch that film back and actually watching everything I have done back. I have always been a big, old gay but not knowing it. If I knew what I was doing Pride that I would be here, ten years on, feeling the most myself I have ever felt and the most welcome in a room like this, I would have been very proud indeed.”
