Passion Pit frontman Michael Angelakos came out as a gay in an interview with Brett Easton Ellis on the screenwriter's podcast, B.E.E., on Monday. The 28-year-old Indie singer revealed on Ellis' podcast, B.E.E. that he began questioning his sexuality during his college years but decided not to come out until after he married stylist Kristy Mucci in 2013.
"I've told very few people in my personal small circles because I don't know how to talk about it, you know?" Angelakos said about his decision to come out on air. "When this was all happening recently, finally, I just decided it might be best to talk about it here. I don't really know what happened, but it's just one of those gut feelings. It's the same gut feeling I had when I said, 'Okay, I kind of just need to talk to people about the fact that I am. I'm gay.' And that's it. It just has to happen."
Angelakos admitted that he desperately wanted to be a heterosexual man because of his marriage to Mucci. Eventually, the two announced their separation in August and Angelakos revealed that his now estranged wife has been nothing but supportive. He admitted to Ellis that Mucci told him not to "hate himself" and to embrace the way he felt about his sexuality.
He called Mucci "one of the most incredible people." However, the musician also admitted that destroying his marriage to Mucci was the hardest part about accepting his sexuality.
"I just wanted so badly to be straight, because I love her so much," he told Ellis. "I think that was one of the most painful things when we decided to separate. When I decided to really deal with it head on, which was, I don't know, in June, she was the one who spearheaded it in a way. She said, 'You need to figure out what's going on with your sexuality because you can't hate yourself anymore.'"
So, why didn't the "Little Secrets" singer come out before? Angelakos said it was more comfortable to stick with what he knew would be an easier life - a heterosexual life.
"I lived in such a group of straight people -- not that anybody was going to be not understanding -- it was just not the time," he said about continuing to date women. "I was going through so many difficult questions with girls that when I started dating my wife she just quieted them so much. So she was such a good friend that it became kind of a non-issue. It's always been about putting it off in my head, not consciously."
"When you're teetering on the edge of heterosexuality or homosexuality and you don't know what's going on, it's just so much more comfortable to keep going back to what you know because...I didn't want to deal with other people," he added. "That person's not going to question you."
Angelakos also said the lack of gay role models was another reason he hesitated to come out publicly sooner, saying, "I didn't see the powerful dude at the corner office of the Fortune 500 company, even though I didn't aspire to be that, that guy wasn't gay the way he was portrayed. So I just thought, 'Well, if I become gay, I'm never going to become any of these cool things that I keep wanting to be.' And...how much of myself can I edit so that I can be?"
After the interview, Angelakos took to Twitter via his band's account to thank fans for their acceptance and support following his big revelation. writing, "I've received so many kind and supportive messages today. Thank you for reaching out and being so kind to me."
