Welcome to the big queer party, Gunning!
Happy Pride! Jessica Gunning has officially come out as “a big old gay”.
The actress, who portrays Martha on hit Netflix series Baby Reindeer, discussed her sexuality on the podcast Reign with Josh Smith earlier this week. The 38 year old says coming out was a “massive moment” for her.
While discussing the theme of self-love on the show, Smith asked: “do you feel like you’re stepping into yourself in new ways now?”
“Well, a big thing happened to me and maybe I’ll just talk about it. I came out actually in November ‘22,” Gunning replied.
Smith welcomed her to the “queer club.” It’s a club that Gunning has been a part of for a while within her friend group, but it’s her first time discussing it in the public eye.
“Thank you very much. Thank you. And that was a mega, mega thing for me because I, for so long, I’m surrounded by gays,” she said. “Like all my friends are gay. So it wasn’t that I was, like, repressing anything. It was just that I didn’t think I could be and I still can’t articulate it in the best way.”
Gunning went on to explain that she felt “a bit alien” in the community at first because she is a “bigger woman”, until she realized she was valid. We love fat femmes over here!
“That was the most liberating thing,” she said.
Scenes of the show were very emotional to film for the cast (and to watch for us viewers). Gunning said a particular scene, where Donny “talks about sleeping for the first time at his parent’s house,” reminded her of the night she came out to her parents.
“I told my family in Christmas that year and I slept for like 10 hours at night. Yeah, because I kind of was like, ‘Oh, that’s what this has been.’ It’s been like a little secret, I guess, I’ve been keeping from myself even,” she said.
Before coming out to anyone (including herself) Gunning says she would watch The L Word and had a little too much fun while kissing Kate Blanchet on stage during the play When We Have Sufficiently Tortured Each Other. We can’t blame her.
Welcome to the big queer party, Gunning! We’re glad to have you.
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