Chris Appleton Shares How His Coming Out Journey Only Started after Fatherhood, in His Mid-20s

Out celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton detailed how his coming-out journey started only after he'd been in a long-term relationship with a woman that included having two children.

"Speaking on Bethenny Frankel's podcast, Just B, Chris explained that while he and the mother of his children never married, they were together for nine years before he realized that he is gay," BuzzFeed relayed.

Appleton, who was in a brief marriage to Lukas Gage that ended a year ago, described being in a long-term relationship and thinking he had it "all figured out" – only to realize that he didn't.

Now 41, Appleton recalled that his coming out at age 26 "was incredibly difficult because I had two kids, I had a partner I'd been with for nine years, I thought I had it all figured out."

But it wasn't as easy as working things out for himself. There was a social aspect to his belated embrace of authenticity.

"Everybody else also thought I had it figured out," Appleton added. "So when you're all of a sudden then changing the record, people are like: 'Well, you must have always known,' and I didn't realize I did."

The realization that he was gay was something Appleton skated over, he explained.

"I never was too focused on sexuality, but people at school always mentioned it, and, as a kid, you just don't ever want to be different – I already felt different because I was dyslexic," he detailed.

The stylist acknowledged the hurt and unfairness of his pre-coming out situation, saying he was "just determined to prove everyone wrong, but so much that I did myself a disjustice."

Appleton went on to add: "The difficult thing is, then you're hurting people around you that you've committed to, and you feel that."

Once he embraced the truth, however, everything changed – for the better.

"It sounds cheesy, but there's honestly so much power in living authentically and being authentically yourself," the UK native, who grew up in Leicester, acknowledged.

"I think once I let go of all the guilt and shame of it all, my whole life changed. I moved to America, it was amazing how much grew and changed."


Now, of course, Appleton is celebrated for who he is, and for his world-class talent. Check out some of the thirsty snaps he's shared on Instagram.