Johnny Galecki called Sara Gilbert a pioneer in response to her recent revelation that she came out lesbian to herself while dating him.

An emotional Gilbert told The Talk viewers last week that she and Galecki (The Big Bang Theory) shared an intimate relationship off screen as well as on while working on the hit comedy series Roseanne.

“I thought he was super cute and had a total crush on him and we started dating and then he would come over and we would, like, make out and then I would start to get depressed,” Gilbert said.

“And Johnny felt badly, I think, and started to take it personally and didn't understand what was going on. And so I eventually told him that I thought it was about my sexuality. And he was super sweet about it.”

Gilbert explained that she remained closeted while working on Roseanne and that Galecki kept her secret. She said that even today discussing her sexuality in public remains difficult for her.

On Monday Gilbert told viewers that Galecki had left her a “sweet, emotional message just saying how he loved me and that he was sorry that I struggle in any way.”

“He just said, 'You know, you're a pioneer my friend.'” (The video is embedded on this page. Visit our video library for more videos.)