YouTube star and CBBC presenter Joe Tasker proudly comes out as gay: ‘I’ve never been as happy’
Joe Tasker said he was nervous to come out, but was glad he did. (Joe Tasker/YouTube)
Children’s TV presenter Joe Tasker has come out as gay in an emotionally chaotic vlog and introduced his boyfriend to the world, and fans have nothing but love.
The YouTube star had the courage to publicly announce his sexuality in a video he called “a bit of a biggy”.
Tasker is best known for presenting CBBC’s Saturday Mash-Up Live! along with puppet monster Stanley (Dave Chapman) and various celebrity guests.
Prior to publishing the vlog to his YouTube channel on Sunday (12 February), Joe Tasker tweeted several times that he had finished filming a video he was “genuinely scared to upload”.
Because Tasker tends to refrain from discussing his personal life, he said that his “heart has left [his] chest”.
“This is the biggest video I will probably ever release,” he said. “This is it… right… I’ve always kept anything personal, anything private, anything like that, just offline. Just because I enjoy my offline life.
“I’ve never really opened up so this will be my first and maybe only time opening up. This is a video that I have always thought about in the back of my head since I uploaded my first-ever video.
“I’m gay. So there we go. That’s the first bit done.”
The 20-minute vlog saw the presenter pour his heart out about living in the closet and coming out to his friends in the iconically chaotic way that fans have come to love.
“There’s so many coming out videos now than when I was younger,” he said. “When I was younger, you suppressed it and you just got on with your stuff.”
Joe Tasker told fans that he had come out to his friends and family over the course of his time at university.
While his experiences were predominantly positive, he noted that his first time coming out to a friend didn’t go as he hoped.
“He was just like, ‘Oh, I need time to process this…’ At one point he said, ‘You’re just doing this for attention obviously, or something.’
“That was my first coming-out experience,” he added. “That just put me off.”
Despite the negative first attempt, the CBBC presenter managed to build up the courage to tell a group of his close friends and was met with praise all around.
Tasker continued: “In the first few years of being in the public eye, I guess – to my mum, and her pal – when I started making content, or getting a different audience from a different TV show I was doing, I thought, I’ll tell someone if they ask me, maybe. But who’s asking that?
“I don’t think I was ready, you know? I think that’s what it was. I think I’m ready now. What I’m getting at, there’s no right or wrong time…. whenever you’re ready. Which is very cliche, but it is.
“And the most cliche-est thing, which is the most realest thing, is it’s all about being happy. It’s your happiness. If you feeling like you’re not happy and you need to tell someone – do it! If that’s going to make you happy, that is literally all it is.
“I have never been as happy as I am right now.”
During the video, Tasker also revealed that he has been dating fellow YouTube star Jack Biggs for almost four years.
“I’ve finally found someone who’s as weird as me,” he said after excitedly announcing who his boyfriend is. “And we are in love!”
He continued: “This guy, right? We are both so similar in a way that our backgrounds of, like, suppressing being gay and not telling anyone… it’s bang on. And family stuff and other things I won’t share… it’s so similar. And other things we’ve experienced.”
The reveal was met with elation from fans, several of who said they were “so proud and happy” for the internet personality.
“Popping some virtual champagne, love everything about this,” one user wrote. “Congrats to you both on finding love and happiness together.”
Another wrote: “So proud of you for embracing your true self and sharing it with the world. Love and support always.”
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