How ‘Baywatch’ star Jaason Simmons avoided being outed in the ’90s with help from his co-star
Baywatch—the soapy TV action-drama about hot & horny lifeguards—is still iconic after all these years.This week, a new ABC Studios docuseries called After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun dropped on Hulu, which explores how the show became a cultural phenomenon—turning cast members like Pamela Anderson and Jason Momoa into superstars—and delving into all the highs and lows of behind-the-scenes drama.Subscribe to our newsletter for your front-row seat to all things entertainment with a sprinkle of everything else queer.Of course, Baywatch, which premiered in 1989,was a true product of its time; the original NBC run of the show is almost comically heteronormative.
Though, come on, you can’t put a bunch of bronzed, muscled gods and goddesses in tiny red bathing suits on screen and not expect to stir a few gay awakenings!Hunk versus hunk.
Speedo versus Speedo.But what many didn’t know back then is that one of the series’ hunkiest stars was gay in real life—he just was pretty convincing at playing a girl-crazy surfer bro!Australian actor Jaasons Simmons joined the cast in 1994 for Season 5, at the height of Baywatch‘s popularity, playing Logan Fowler, an Aussie exchange student who would proceed to chase after just about every woman on the show.Chiseled muscles, tanned skin, sparkling blue eyes, and sandy blond hair, Simmons’ Logan epitomized the babely beach bro archetype, and viewers certainly didn’t mind watching him slo-mo run across the screen.A post shared by Jaason Simmons (@jaasonsimmons)Simmons remained in the closet—at least, to the public—during his three-season run on the show, only coming out as gay in 2008 when he announced a relationship with his then fiancé John O’Callaghan and their plans to adopt a child.But as he would later reveal, it’s not like he was keeping his sexuality a secret from the people in his life.
In a 2014 conversation with Too Fab, the actor shared that his Baywatch co-stars were all aware of his truth, and were nothing but.
