EMMERDALE star Max Parker has candidly opened up on his previous relationship history before he came out as gay.
Max, who stars as Luke Posner on the tea-time soap, is now in a relationship with co-star Kris Mochrie, who played his on-screen brother Lee.
After HOAR Online exclusively revealed they were dating in July, the couple have since moved into a Manchester penthouse for their first home.
Now Max has given an honest account of his former relationships in a chat with Attitude magazine.
The ITV actor told the publication: “Around about 18 I came out as bisexual to a few friends. My ex-girlfriend knew that before I was with her about my sexuality.
“As time went on I didn’t want to talk about it because I didn’t want to make her feel like people would ask questions. But it was only when we broke up when I was around 26, 27 that I started to tell more people about my sexuality.
“One of the main reasons why we did split in the end was because I knew that she’s a beautiful girl and she could basically be with anyone she wants, and I was stopping her from [doing] that.
“When you get to a certain age and people say, ‘You’ve been together for this long, are you going to propose, have kids?’ all those kinds of questions, it makes you think ‘Am I doing the right thing by not pursuing this thing that I’ve had in the back of my mind?’
“There did come a point maybe about a year later where I thought ‘From now on I don’t think I can imagine myself being with a woman’.
“Something in my mind just changed… I feel comfortable now knowing that I am gay.”
Kris’ character Lee was killed off after being murdered by Robert Sugden and the couple only met on his last day of filming on the Emmerdale set.
They never shared a scene together because of the storyline but backstage a friendship developed and then romance blossomed.
A source exclusively told HOAR Online: “They met on Kris’ last day filming and just hit it off.
“They were cast as brothers and are really alike and have been joking that casting did a great job.
“The boys kept in touch after Kris finished on the show but they’ve spent a lot of time together over summer.
“It’s early days but they’re really enjoying themselves and who knows what the future holds.”
The couple set tongues wagging on social media last month after filming themselves on a hike in the middle of a summer storm.
They were forced to strip off after being caught in a heavy storm – and couldn’t resist taking pictures for their fans on social media.
