The 27-year-old says his ‘whole life has changed’ since meeting his boyfriend and coming out
A top Irish male model has spoken about falling in love with the first person he was ever attracted to.
Gary Talbot is a 27-year-old male model.
In an interview with the Irish Independent, Talbot said he never really had any relationships growing up.
Gary explained: ‘I was never going out with anyone really. I had it in my head “you know what, I’m probably not interested in anybody,”‘
‘Still to this day I can appreciate somebody’s beauty, but I’ve never been attracted to anybody. So I was like “there’s something seriously going on here,’” he added.
Gary recalled being ‘surrounded by stunning people, both women and men’ but was never attracted to anyone.
And then he received a message on Facebook that would change his life forever.
‘It knocked me for six’
Gary often recieved messages of people flirting with him.
When Ciaran first messaged him, Gary assumed he was ‘just like everybody else.’
Gary opened the message and eventually starting talking to Ciaran however.
‘We were talking for a good while before we ever went out for a coffee,’ Gary recalls.
They went out for coffee about eight times.
Gary ‘was still thinking “this isn’t really for me”‘ even though he knew it was. So, he kept everything at a slow pace.
Meeting Ciaran was the first time Gary had ever been attracted to someone.
‘I was like “holy shit, it’s a man”. So it knocked me for six,’ he explained.
‘Panic state’
The thought of coming out left Gary ‘terrified’ and in a ‘panic state.’
He had anxiety attacks and lost weight because of the stress.
Gary was worried coming out would have a negative impact on his career.
He was afraid people would look at him differently and no longer view him as a ‘masculine man.’
Gary continued: ‘That was a big part of it – and then with the industry, I was going “I’m not going to appeal to women, I’m going to appeal obviously to gay men.” I thought I’d lose the straight men following, but, thankfully, I haven’t.’
The couple have been together a few months now.
The male model says his whole life has changed.
He explained: ‘Obviously I was carrying this stress and then I came out. But nobody cared. Some were shocked, but nobody batted an eyelid.’
His family were ‘very understanding’ when he came out to them.
Gary says people look at him coming out at an older age as unusual. He adds it was a ‘little bit more confusing’ coming out at 27 but ‘life is too short.’
‘You only get one shot at life and I’m glad it’s happened to me now and my life is only starting,’ he concluded.
