“I’m taking back control”: Matt Terry breaks silence on sexuality for first time
Matt Terry speaks exclusively with GAY TIMES about publicly coming out with his poignant new single, ‘His Car’. WORDS BY SAM DAMSHENAS PHOTOGRAPHY BY COURTNEY NATHAN PHILLIP “I’m very proud [of my sexuality], and I’m no longer afraid,” Matt Terry tells GAY TIMES.
With his poignant new power ballad ‘His Car’, the singer-songwriter is publicly opening up about his sexuality for the first time by issuing an apology to the first man he ever fell in love with.
As a result of his burgeoning fame from winning the 13th season of The X Factor in 2016 – a time Matt describes as “f**king hard” due to relentless speculation over his sexuality from British tabloids – societal pressures forced him to keep their romance a secret. “I said to him, ‘You’re not allowed to tell anyone about this’ and he loved me enough to do so,” he remembers. “It’s such a regret of mine, and I’m just really sorry.” After a brief hiatus from the industry, Matt is finally “taking back the power” and coming out on his own terms. “Throughout the years, I’ve had media reach out and offer me money like, ‘We’ll give you this much if you want to talk about your sexuality,’ and I would say, ‘Absolutely not.’ I’m too proud and have too much self-respect,” he says. “But now, I want to set the record straight with this song and video.
I know… People are gonna be like, ‘Is this news?’” Co-written with producer Xoro (Tim Kulawik), the accompanying music video for ‘His Car’ follows Matt and a male love interest on a romantic, nostalgia-filled trip to Yorkshire.
