Sean Hayes Reveals The Worst Kept Secret Ever – He’s Gay

We’re predicting this is going to come as something of a shock to you so you’ll probably want to sit down before you read this. Ready? Okay, here goes… Sean Hayes, aka Jack McFarland in Will and Grace, has announced to The Advocate that he is gay.

What do you mean you knew already?!?! So okay it’s not come as much of a shock to you, so why has Hayes chosen to confirm what has been an open secret in Hollywood for years?

From the interview with The Advocate, it appears it’s down to Sean feeling he is at a point in his life when he actually wants to speak about it as opposed to being pushed to. Having said that though Hayes is keen to point out that he feels he has never denied his sexuality insisting:

“I am who I am. I was never in, as they say. Never,”

Hinting that the reason why Hayes has kept so quiet is down to him being a much more private person than his old alter ego Jack McFarland, Hayes discusses how much more sedate a life he leads than McFarland saying:

“I don’t need events. I don’t do a lot. I live my life like an 85-year-old man. I’m just quiet. It’s fantastic.”

and this is reinforced again in Hayes talks about how he felt that he has never owed it to the wider public to have to say anything

“Nobody owes anything to anybody. You are your authentic self to whom and when you choose to be, and if you don’t know somebody, then why would you explain to them how you live your life?”

This doesn’t however mean that Sean believes he has had no impact on gay rights issues though. In fact he believes quite the opposite is true and was at pains to let The Advocate, who under a previous editor had previously ran an article ridiculing Hayes for pretending no one was aware he was gay, by stating:

“I feel like I’ve contributed monumentally to the success of the gay movement in America, and if anyone wants to argue that, I’m open to it. You’re welcome, Advocate.”

“Why would you go down that path with somebody who’s done so much to contribute to the gay community?” he asks. “That was my beef about it. What more do you want me to do? Do you want me to stand on a float? And then what? It’s never enough.

“That’s the thing about celebrity: It sets you up to fail because the expectation is so high of what’s needed, what’s wanted from you that the second you don’t [meet it], you disappoint people.”