He bravely came out as gay at age 14 in an inspirational YouTube video.
And now South African-born Australian singer Troye Sivan has opened up about his struggle to come out, saying the biggest issue was coming out to himself, rather than his friends and supportive family.
Speaking to Another Man magazine, the 22-year-old My My My! singer added that he doesn’t want to be a gay icon.
‘I thought I was going to take it to the grave’: Troye Sivan reveals how he struggled to come out at age 14… as he admits he doesn’t want to be a gay icon
Troye said that there was an ‘internal struggle’ for years before he finally came out, and that he felt like he ‘was going insane’ before doing so.
He said before he told anyone he was gay, he thought he’d keep it a secret his whole life, saying: ‘[I] thought that I was honestly gonna (sic) take it to my grave.’
‘I just remember I got to the point where the internal monologue was driving me actually crazy,’ Troye told the publication.
‘I felt like I was going insane, because I had reached the point where I was so petrified of lying and keeping this secret, but the fear of coming out was equally as scary.’
Candid: Troye said that there was an ‘internal struggle’ for years before he finally came out, and that he felt like he ‘was going insane’ before doing so
Looking back: Troye said that his family were incredibly supportive of him when he came out as gay (pictured is his mother)
Troye said that his family were incredibly supportive of him when he came out as gay and said because of their support and the fact that he had career success at a young age, that he had the ‘easiest coming out in the world’ compared to others.
He said he ‘politely’ doesn’t want to be a gay icon because he doesn’t ‘represent everybody.’
‘I’m one voice of so many that are missing, and so I’m just trying to tell my story, and right now I’m having so much fun in my life, I feel confident, I’m just enjoying myself, and so that was really important to me to express.’
Troye came out as gay in a YouTube video, which took the world by storm.
Reflecting: He said he ‘politely’ doesn’t want to be a gay icon because he doesn’t ‘represent everybody’
In July 2016, his mother Laurelle Mellet spoke about how she was ‘nervous’ when he came out as she was concerned about homophobic bullying in schools.
She launched a petition in 2016 to renew Safe Schools funding and establish a safe enironment for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersexed (LGBTI) students in the school yard.
Troye meanwhile, previously revealed his struggle to come to terms with his own sexuality, admitting he cried and felt ‘really sick’ after he was first attracted to a man at the age of 13.
He told Attitude magazine he was traumatised when he realised he found Zac Efron ‘really hot’.
Happy: He is now in a relationship American model, Jacob Bixenman, but has said how he wants to keep their romance under wraps
He is now in a relationship American model, Jacob Bixenman, but has said how he wants to keep their romance under wraps.
Speaking to GQ Australia, the 22-year-old explained it was important for them to keep some things just between them, despite the high-profile nature of their jobs.
‘If I had it my way, it would be something that was almost completely private,’ Troye told the magazine.
‘But I think it’s just so obvious that we’re together. So I’m completely fine with everyone knowing who I’m in a relationship with, but then it’s up to me to protect the ins and outs.’