Baby Reindeer Star Jessica Gunning Comes Out as Gay

Jessica Gunning is a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community.

The Baby Reindeer star recently came out publicly as gay and shared the story of how she told her family. 

"A big thing happened to me, and maybe I'll just talk about it," Gunning said on the June 4 episode of the Reign With Josh Smith podcast. "I came out actually in November '22….And that was a mega, mega thing for me."

Once she realized her sexuality, she felt like she found her true self. 

"I'm surrounded by gays. Like, all my friends are gay," the actress continued. "So it wasn't like I was repressing anything. It was just that I didn't think I could be, and I still can't articulate it in the best way. But I realized I was a big old gay. I was like, 'That's what it's been. That's what it is.' And that was a massive moment where everything kind of clicked and I made sense for myself then."

Before coming out, Gunning explained, she felt like there was a piece missing.

"I'm a bigger woman, and I thought maybe it had to do with my size," she added. "But I felt a little bit alien or that I was tagging along. But as soon as I realized, I was like, 'No it's that.' And that was like the most liberating thing."

Reflecting on her hit Netflix series—in which she plays a stalker named Martha—Gunning expressed how she could relate to Richard Gadd's character Donny when he tells his parents about what he's experienced and then is finally able to sleep.

"I told my family on Christmas that year, and I slept for like 10 hours at night," she said. "Because I kind of was like, 'Oh, that's what this has been.' It's been like a little secret, I guess, that I'd been keeping from myself even—and not in a kind of hating way. I never felt I was repressing anything in a bad way or that any reaction would be bad. I just kind of was like, I didn't think I could be. And then when it all clicked, it was like, 'Oh, it makes so much sense.'"

And while Gunning said she "should have known" earlier—noting there were "all these signs from the universe"—she's happy she's come out now. 

"Everyone around me probably was like, 'When is she gonna come out?'" she shared. "And it took me 36 years, but I did it."

Now, Gunning is feeling "really peaceful," and she said her experience of coming out was different than what she thought it would be.

"Naively, I used to think it would be weirdly like a sexual thing—if you're telling people, 'I like boobs.' It's not that in any way," she said on the podcast. "You're going, 'This is who I am.' And it's actually really emotional. It is so exposing, but it's also really lovely because you're going, 'This is my soul' a bit.'"

"And you get to have those amazing chats with all your loved ones. It's really special," Gunning later continued. "And also, loads of my friends have shared that sometimes it wasn't that easy, and that's really emotional too. But yeah, it's been lovely and freeing and really emotional but also great. Everyone's been amazing and so supportive."

In honor of Pride Month, keep scrolling to see how stars are celebrating.

The "Roar" singer shared an edited version of Harrison Butker's controversial commencement speech—during which he appeared to make disparaging remarks about the LGBTQ+ community and denounced Pride month—splicing his words together to make it sound as though the athlete praised the graduates over their future careers, promotes "diversity, equity and inclusion" and wished people a happy Pride Month.

As Katy captioned her post, "Fixed this for my girls, my graduates, and my gays — you can do anything. Congratulations and happy pride."

The Bridgerton star celebrated the beginning of June with a social media shoutout to a special someone in her life. 

 "In Love with a woman,” she captioned her June 1 post, “loud about it and proud about it!"

The One Tree Hill alum shared a moving message of hope to her June 2 Instagram Story under a quote about pride. 

"You are perfect," she wrote. "No matter how long it might take, you'll find your people. And they will help you find more and more of yourself. It's worth it. You're worth it."

Meanwhile, Ashlyn shared a reel of her and Sophia enjoying time in Paris, which Sophia reshared to her Story writing, "Mine. PROUD."

During her June 2 show in Lyon, France, the "You Need To Calm Down" singer yelled to the crowd, "Happy Pride Month, Lyon," while performing the 2019 anthem. 

Reese Witherspoon's daughter marked the start of Pride by reflecting on her comments about her sexuality in 2022. 

"Once upon a time, some gal on the internet said ‘gender is whatever' in reference to her own sexuality," Ava wrote in a June 2 post. "Many took her words out of context, but she knew what she meant. Anyways, this is her posting for the first day of pride month 2024."

The songwriter and the Reno 911! star kicked off Pride Month on June 1 at the launch of Gurus magazine's #30voices30days program at Godfrey Hotel Hollywood.

The "Good as Hell" artist attened a pride parade in Los Angeles' West Hollywood neighborhood. 

"WEHO PRIDE TODAY," she captioned her June 2 post. "SO MUCH LOVE & HUGS. IF I SEEN YA I LOVE YA."