Glee star Charice Pempengco comes out as gay in TV interview

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Former Glee star Charice Pempengco, has come out as a lesbian during a recent television interview on a talk show in the Phillipines.

The vocalist and actress Pempengco, was asked by the host of television show The Buzz, Boy Abunda, whether she was gay, to which she responded in Tagalog: “Yes… I am.”

The 21-year-old singer went on to explain why she had decided to come out as gay on television.

“I just want to say to all of you that I feel very light — that I can leave the house knowing I am not hiding anything,” she said on Sunday, during her appearance on the show.

“I love myself, that’s why I’m able to do this,” she continued.

Earlier this year, questions arose about her sexuality, after images of Pempengco and a girl surfaced online, and many speculated that they were dating.

Pempengco first found fame when Ellen DeGeneres found a video of her on YouTube, and invited her to perform on her show in 2007.

She has since appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show, and has performed with Celine Dion, and Andrea Bocelli. In Glee, she played Sunshine Corazon, a foreign exchange student, and served as a judge on the X Factor Phillipines in 2012.