Fleabag star Ben Aldridge comes out as a ‘proud and thankful’ member of the LGBT+ community
Ben Aldridge on his religious upbringing, and using therapy to deal with shame after coming out (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Ben Aldridge, known professionally for being attractive and also starring in British comedy-drama Fleabag, revealed he is a member of the LGBT+ community.
The 34-year-old actor took to Instagram on what would have been Pride in London, Saturday 27 June, to briefly speak about his “journey to pride”.
In a reflective post, he shared a slideshow of planks of the LGBT+ rights movement: the Gay Liberation Front packing London’s Leicester Square in 1972, Stonewall Riots pioneers Marsha P Johnson and Sylvia Rivera walking in New York City’s 1973 Pride parade.
Aldridge also shared a short black and white clip of him coyly kissing a man, as well as a piece of artwork emblazoned with the Progress flag that simply states: “Choose love.”
Ben Aldridge: There is ‘so much more to fight for’ when it comes to LGBT+ rights.
“The journey to pride was a long one for me,” he wrote.
“I love the LGBT+ community and am incredibly proud and thankful to be a part of it. So much won.
“So much more to fight for.”
In the Phoebe Waller-Bridge show, Aldridge played the “A**ehole Guy“. In the constellation of sparingly named characters, he gained his sobriquet for his, er, rather particular sexual predilection.
Aldridge is not the only LGBT+ cast member of the acclaimed BBC series, however. Local attractive gay man Andrew Scott played the “hot priest” on the brutally dark show, whose thirst-inspiring role both forever changed the word “kneel” and earned him a Critic’s Choice Award.
Ben Aldridge (L) and Andrew Scott volunteer during Match Fund day at the ‘Choose Love’ shop for Help Refugees in London. (David M. Benett/Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Scott, whose use of Grindr has proved so scandalous that the straight media reported on it, alluded to his singledom in an interview with the How To Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, explaining that he dislikes the term “casual sex”.
“The idea that you can’t extract any kind of meaning from casual sex… I think that’s really dangerous because it invokes shame in people,” he explained.
“You can have incredibly potent, lifelong effects from meeting somebody over two weeks, or one week, or, you know, three hours.”
