British novelist Jacqueline Wilson has come out as gay.

Wilson spoke for the first time publicly about her 18-year relationship with another woman but called it “old news” for people who have known her.

“I've never really been in any kind of closet,” she told the Guardian Review. “It would be such old news for anybody that has ever known anything much about me. Even the vaguest acquaintance knows perfectly well that we are a couple.”

Wilson, who is 74, has published 111 novels for children. In Love Frankie, due in August, tomboy Frankie falls in love with Sally, the prettiest girl in her class.

Wilson said she knew “perfectly well that it would shine a little light on my own private life.”

Wilson added that she doesn't see herself as a role model for young people struggling with their sexuality. “I'm sure they could find much more glamorous examples,” she said.