Designer Nate Berkus believes he is
still unlearning being in the closet.
Speaking to his former mentor, Oprah
Winfrey, on cabler OWN's Super Soul Sunday, Berkus, 41,
explained that he was pretty good at hiding his sexuality.
“What happens is when you are a kid
and you know that you're gay you develop a skill set that makes you
dishonest,” Berkus said.
“You have to lie. You feel that you
have to lie so that you're not cast out, so that your parents don't
cast you out. And the things that you learn to do socially, with
friends on the school bus, in class, in school, at recess, with your
family, how you have to pretend that you like a girl or that you're
dating someone.”
“I was 8 years old, 9 years old, when
I became conscious of the fact that I was gay. And I had to develop
a whole skill set around hiding that.”
“And it's taken me almost all of my
adult life to rid myself of those. 'Cause I got pretty good at it.”
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(Related: Nate
Berkus told dad that being gay was not a choice he would have made.)