Kyle XY actor Matt Dallas: ‘I was told to stay in the closet’
Actor Matt Dallas revealed he was told to stay in the closet. (Jason Merritt/Getty for GLAAD)
Actor Matt Dallas has revealed he was told to keep his sexuality a secret while acting in ABC’s Kyle XY.
The 36-year-old performer, who shares a YouTube channel with his husband—musician Blue Hamilton—was answering questions from fans about self-care and self-love on camera, when he mentioned the series in which he starred between 2006 and 2009.
“When I was at Kyle XY and I was told I couldn’t be out of the closet because it was going to ruin my career, I went through a period of being single for a long time because I was afraid to even date,” he said in the YouTube video, published on Wednesday (February 6).
The revelation was made almost in passing, but when another fan explicitly asked if either Dallas or Hamilton had been told to keep their sexuality a secret, the actor have a more elaborate answer.
“I was told to stay in the closet, not talk about my sexuality, to be on every red carpet with a girl on my arm, because you could not be successful if you were openly gay in the entertainment industry, at least in front of the camera,” Dallas said.
“Because of the advice that was given to me to stay in the closet, I became very disconnected from who I was.”
— Matt Dallas
The actor said he regrets taking that advice—even if he does not know how it would have affected his career—as those words had a lasting, negative impact on him.
Actor Matt Dallas and Blue Hamilton have been married since 2015. (Earl Gibson III/Getty)
“I wish I had not taken that advice,” he said, adding: “Because of the advice that was given to me to stay in the closet, I became very disconnected from who I was, and there’s a lot of residual stuff that to this day that I still deal with where I find myself [thinking] ‘oh, I sound too gay’ or ‘I’m acting too gay’ because it was so drilled into my brain.”
“Be visible,” interjected Hamilton. “Be very, very visible. And gay.”
When did Matt Dallas and Blue Hamilton get married?
Dallas and Hamilton married in 2015, two years since the actor announced their engagement and came out as gay. Posting to Instagram, the actor wrote simply “Mr & Mr Dallas”, prompting messages of congratulations from followers.
Hamilton also posted to Instagram, but this time with the caption: “Introducing Mr & Mr Hamilton.”
The two became parents later that year, when they adopted a two-year-old boy, Crow.
In a YouTube video, the pair explained: “We’ve been talking about having kids for a long time. We both come from big families, families are important to both of us – and raising a family of our own is very important to us. It was just a matter of when and how.”
They decided they wanted to pursue the path of adoption and took in the boy.
The couple said: “We just happened to fall in love with this certain little boy who came to stay with us. On the car ride home we decided he was going to be ours, and we weren’t going to give him up!
“There was supposed to be a six-month trial period, but there was about a six minute trial period before we knew he was going to be ours.”
