Contents:
- GEE MICHAEL BELIEVED WHAM! SPL UP BEE HE WANTED TO E OUT AS GAY BUT FELT ‘TRAPPED’
- ANDREW RIDGELEY 'HAD NO IA GEE MICHAEL WAS GAY' BEFORE HE ME OUT TO HIM
GEE MICHAEL BELIEVED WHAM! SPL UP BEE HE WANTED TO E OUT AS GAY BUT FELT ‘TRAPPED’
“ ‘I didn’t know whether to tell you this … but I’m gog to: I’m gay. Documentary has explaed why Gee Michael didn’t e out as gay durg his time the new one-off special tracks the rise of the 1980s pop group via archive terviews wh Michael as well as his bandmate Andrew Ridgeley. “He said to me, ‘Didn't know how to tell you this but I’m gay – if not gay, you know, bisexual, ’’ Ridgeley said.
In the documentary, Michael said that he had realised he was gay six months earlier after an enunter wh a man while shootg the mic vio for “Club Tropina” 1984. In the new Netflix documentary Wham!, which began streamg today, sger Gee Michael reveals he very nearly me out as a gay man the early years of his reer—but was ultimately talked out of dog so by his bandmate, Andrew Ridgeley, and Ridgeley’s ex-girliend, Shirlie Kemp.
“He gave Shirlie [Kemp, Ridgeley’s ex-girliend and a close iend to both men] a quick glance, and he said to me, ‘Didn’t know how to tell you this, but I’m gay. If not gay, bisexual. I want people to know that I have not been exposed as a gay man any way that I feel… I don’t feel any shame for… I feel stupid and I feel reckls and weak for havg allowed my sexualy to be exposed this way, but I don’t feel any shame whatsoever.
ANDREW RIDGELEY 'HAD NO IA GEE MICHAEL WAS GAY' BEFORE HE ME OUT TO HIM
Spl bee Gee Michael was stgglg wh his feelgs over not beg openly and publicly gay (Picture: Getty Imag)Gee Michael believed Wham! Spl 1986, wh Michael gog on to fd succs as a solo artist – however a never-before-aired terview, he admted the band spl bee he was stgglg wh nflictg and guilt-ridn feelgs about not beg openly gay. Was me as I sudnly thought, “Oh my God, I’m a massive star and I’m gay, ” and the prsn was about that, about the way I’d boxed myself .
Michael knew the band’s succs wasn’t gog to brg him happs as he stggled wh the ia of g out as gay (Picture: Getty Imag)Michael built up the urage to tell bandmate and long-time iend Ridgeley, who supported him but advised him not to e out to his fay, particularly his father – which Michael lled ‘a pivotal moment. Michael was openly gay and a relatnship when he died 2016 agedjt 53 (Picture: Getty Imag)Netflix’s new documentary looks at Wham! It also se Michael speakg about his sexualy, havg first thought he was bisexual as a teenager before fallg love wh a man for the first time and realisg he was gay.
In d terviews, years later, he creds their creative partnership as the talyst for his often paful evolutn on the world stage to the gay man and artist he’d bee. Revealg that Michael me out to Ridgeley, as more gay than bisexual, soon after the band first h the charts 1982, the movie poignantly ptur both of the bt buds’ experience keepg closeted Gee’s sexualy secret. Vis READ NEXT‘Heartstopper’ Season 2 Review: Endls Honeymoon‘Sweat’ at Keegan Theatre Review: Labor PasParty of Hate: Where the 2024 GOP Candidat Stand on LGBTQ Issu12 Vtage Gay Adult Films Everyone Should See.