'Baby Reindeer' Star Jessica Gunning Reveals She Was Celibate for 36 Years Before Coming Out

Jessica Gunning is opening up about her coming out journey.

If you didn’t know, the 40-year-old actress – who won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, an Actor Award, a Critics’ Choice Award and a British Academy Television Award for her role in Netflix’s Baby Reindeer – came out as gay in 2022.

In a new interview, Jessica revealed that she remained celibate until she came out at the age of 36.

Keep reading to find out more…“I’ve never been in a relationship before with anyone,” Jessica told The Times, noting her single status kept her from realizing her sexual orientation. “Everyone around me was gay. I just didn’t think I could be.”

Jessica went on to say that her questions about her sexuality were the main reason why she avoided romantic relationships.

“Well, not to get too deep, but it was probably that I didn’t want to go out with guys and so I was finding a way to avoid it,” Jessica explained. “I never knew how to flirt, I didn’t get it. I was always friends with guys and would set them up with other friends. In a way it was, like, ‘Great, because I’m not interested.’ ”

“I felt like I maybe lived vicariously through a lot of [my characters],” she continued. “I felt very sexual, and I felt very connected to myself, so I was so happy in so many ways. It didn’t feel like I was lonely. I lived with my best mate. I felt fulfilled. So I didn’t feel like I was lacking anything.”

While acknowledging that the one thing she was lacking was sex, Jessica assumed that her celibacy might have also been “connected to size.”

“Maybe because I was bigger, I’ve always felt like — it’s hard to word this because I don’t want it to seem like I’m saying it in a negative way, because it definitely isn’t, I didn’t feel like an alien in a negative way — but it was like an otherness,” she shared.

“And the otherness, I suppose, looking back, protects me from having to go, ‘I don’t fancy men,’” she continued. “So I was just, like, ‘Oh, it’s not the time for me,’ or whatever. And then, before I knew it, I was in my thirties.”

Now that she earned critical acclaim for her performance in Baby Reindeer, Jessica admitted that the success hasn’t impacted her personal life too much.

“I wish I had more juicy gossip, but since I came out, everything happened with Baby Reindeer,” she said. “So that’s been nuts. I’ve had two [girlfriends.] I suppose I’ve just been focused on work. Hopefully I’m open to it. I’m a big believer in love.”

Over the weekend, Jessica joined co-stars Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, and Nicola Coughlan at the premiere of their new movie The Magic Faraway Tree.