Tim Gunn, Project Runway's demanding but lovable celebrity
judge, says he never came out gay to his mother.
Appearing on Larry King Now, Gunn, 60, told host Larry King
that he respects people who are able to declare their sexual
orientation at an early age because coming out was difficult for him.
“When I was growing up, teens into my early twenties, I knew who
I wasn't but I didn't know who I was,” Gunn said. “I really
didn't. And it was a very different time. It was a very different
era. And I had a lot of fears about being gay, about what that
actually meant. And I had already presented my family with a lot of
disappointments and I didn't feel that I wanted to present them with
yet this.”
“It's very funny, though, my mother died two years ago. And I
think she eventually figured out my sexuality. But we never talked
about it. And my father was gone long before. We never once talked
about it.”
Gunn added that he came out to himself when he entered into a
relationship. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
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He has previously said that he attempted suicide at 17 over his
sexual orientation.
(Related: Tim
Gunn “very happy” suicide bid failed.)