Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey confirms his partner is a ‘lovely man’
Jonathan Bailey has explained how his Heartstopper role came about (Getty/Pascal Le Segretain)
Bridgerton star Jonathan Bailey has shared that he is currently in a relationship with a “lovely man”, but that he prefers to keep their life together “private”.
The 35-year-old out gay actor, who became a household name after landing the role of Lord Anthony Bridgerton in Netflix period drama Bridgerton, is currently starring in queer historical drama Fellow Travelers alongside Magic Mike‘s Matt Bomer.
While the TV show has been praised for tracing the tumultuous political history of queer people living in the US between 1950 and 1980, on social media, most noise about the show has arisen due to a scene in which Bailey sucks Bomer’s toes.
During an interview with the Evening Standard about the intriguing new series, Bailey gave a rare insight into his own relationship status, and confirmed that there is indeed a special someone in his life.
Does Jonathan Bailey have a partner?
When asked about whether or not he is in a relationship, Wicked actor Jonathan Bailey confirmed that he does have a partner, who he described as a “lovely man”.
However, Bailey opted to keep the details firmly under wraps, stating that it’s “critical” for him to have a private life.
“It’s not secret, but it’s private,” he explained of the relationship.
“Having a private life is, for me, completely critical. I don’t know if I would be able to be as confident to speak out on other things if I felt that my whole life was up for grabs.”
Jonathan Bailey was previously believed be in a relationship with actor James Ellis
While Jonathan Bailey has kept his romantic life under wraps during his rise to stardom, he has been romantically linked with actor James Ellis in the past.
The pair attended The Olivier Awards together in 2019, and we seen on camera sharing a kiss after Bailey won the award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical for his role in the West End revival of Stephen Sondheim’s company.
Jonathan Bailey has been the victim of homophobic abuse for being gay
Elsewhere in the interview the Evening Standard, Jonathan Bailey opened up about recently experiencing a homophobic attack after meeting with president Joe Biden as part of his work with the Human Rights Campaign.
He revealed that he was approached in a coffee shop the morning after meeting Biden, by a man who demanded to know whether Bailey was famous.
“I said something like, ‘I’m really famous for ordering coffee,’ which is actually quite an annoying thing to say,” he shared.
“And then he got my cap, and he pulled it off my head and he threw it across the room and he said, ‘get out of this f***ing coffee shop, you queer.”
After Bailey picked his cap back up and put it on his head, the assailant threatened: “If you don’t take that cap off, I’m gonna f***ing shoot you. Where I’m from, people like me kill people like you.”
Afterwards, the man left, and while Bailey was terrified that his “life was threatened”, he was more concerned about the thought that some people are “surrounded by that every day”.
“If that’s what children are surrounded by, they’re not going to be able to grow in any way,” he said.
