Rylan Clark-Neal Admits He Leaned into Gay Stereotype For X-Factor

The openly gay TV host and former X Factor contestant Rylan Clark-Neal candidly opened about exaggerating a “gay stereotype” while competing on the singing show.

“I played a character when I was on there,” he told The Guardian.

“I knew I had to be the gay stereotype that was on the front of the papers every day. And I did my job well.

“I played the game.”

Clark-Neal used his time on the series to spin-off into several hosting gigs, first for Big Brother, then for This Morning, which he presented alongside his husband in 2016.

He did note, however, that immediately after the X Factor he was dropped and completely on his own.

“The second you walk out, you are on your own. I was very lucky.

“After the X Factor tour, I went back home … it was the first time I’d been in a room on my own for eight months, without anyone watching me.

“I remember waking up at 4am and thinking: ‘It’s over.’

“If the phone hadn’t rung with the Big Brother job a few weeks later, I don’t know what I’d have done.”

He also talked about the increase in homophobic attacks and hate crimes, mentioning the lesbian couple that was recently attacked on a London bus: “I saw all the statuses saying: ‘I can’t believe this is happening in 2019,’ but every day on my Twitter feed I’ll get: ‘You’re gay, you’re a c**t, people like you should be killed because you’re gay.’ Will things ever change?”

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