Clay Aiken On Romantic Relationships: I Don't Have Any Desire

Clay Aiken sat down with the new issue of New York Magazine to promote his run in Broadway's Spamalot. But Aiken ended up on a tangent about his personal life, saying he has no sex life and no desire. He has refused to talk about it in the past, and recently got in a spat with Newsweek when they tried to ask about it.

"Let's not fool ourselves," he says with his eyebrows up in his arch, queeny way. "The truth is? There are people like Justin Timberlake, males who are cool on radio right now, and then there's me. If I heard myself in a dance club? If I went into a dance club--which I never do--and I heard Clay Aiken come on, I'd roll my eyes and get out. But you know what? I'm fine with being kind of vanilla! It's oh-kye!" In his book, Aiken says that it's not just clubs but also bars he dislikes: "The only reason people go to bars is to get drunk and have sex. To me, bars are what hell is like."

He imagines his social life here will be "nonexistent, really. I'm not a nighttime person." He does not plan on dating, and he is not involved with anyone. "Heck, no," he says. "My dogs." He has never had a romantic relationship with anyone, unless you count the girls he took to dances back in high school in Raleigh. "I just don't have an interest in ... any of that at all. I have got too much on my plate," he says. "I'd rather focus on one thing and do that when I can devote time to it, and right now, I just don't have any desire."

But Aiken is 29 years old and he is also a human. Surely he must have needs. Urges. He contemplates this in silence for 20 or 30 seconds. "Ah think maybe I don't! I mean, not really. I've just kind of shut it off, maybe. Is that bad?"

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Comments

[grisgris]

Maybe he's trying to be like Liberace. Liberace had a huge fan base of older women. From what I understand, Gayken has a pretty dedicated, mostly female fan base. Liberace wasn't just gay, he was FLAMING! But, it was never ackowledged. Maybe, Gayken is trying to tap that in-denial-female-fan base that worships a man gayer than Little Richard's underpants.

[aznurse]

Did someone on Huff lose a bet and promised to have him here 3 times the last month? Same with Katherine Turner.
I'm cranky and will now eat some chocolate

[iknowmorethanu4sure]

clay aikin for some rod.......sorry - lol

[kellygrrrl]

oh, Girl, set yourself free.

[grimm]

Have a heart people. Clay's achin'.

[sparkey]

I wonder if there's a certain senator who's drooling just looking at Clay's picture and wishing he was in a bathroom stall with him.

[StephenDedalus82]

I've seen your profile on gay.com Mr. Aiken. I highly doubt you're on there for conversation about your dogs.

[nuglet304]

weird. come to the darkside, clay. it's okay, really.

[Nivasi]

I never understood what anyone saw in Clay Aiken, and I still don't. In five years, no one else will either.
Americans like their entertainers to be...Entertaining. Not only on stage but in their personal lives. The media like entertainers who are basket cases and make headlines, not boring, asexuals who are rude to interviewers, refuse to answer questions and couldn't come up with a witty come-back (or at least a smart *ssed one) if it hit them on the microphone. This guy is going to last about 5 more minutes.

[mabinog]

I tend to think he is soooo homo but just won't admit it. In any case if he is seriously shy or has some baggage that just does not allow him, or he has no desire to pursue a relationship, WTF cares. It is life let him live it.

[JohnPone]

"I don't have any desire...."
Nor talent.

[Libsrule]

I'm not a fan of his by any means but he is honest about it. I have a friend who is similar to him and is so wrapped up in his career and has seen what relationships can do to some careers and has decided to just concentrate on what he is doing.

He is perfectly normal and whether or not he is gay is really out of line. Our society has put such an onus on being gay and a perfermer that until you reach the stratosphere that Elton John or Rob Halford(Judas Priest) has, there is still the risk of career injury for being gay.

So what if he has decided to stick to his best date being his right hand? How many out there are in the same situation?

His fans adore him and he loves them back and sometimes that's all you need.

[PeteBogs]

I, too, believe he is gay, and is simply going through an asexual period a lot of gay people go through before either facing reality or hurting themselves. When Clay is ready, if ever, to admit to himself and others who he really is, those others will certainly say, "Well, duh!" Hopefully he can get there.

[allamericanboy]

Clay, a grateful nation says "thanks very much."

[bryand1]

He's obviously a very conservative southerner on one hand, and a rather bitchy closet case on the other. He's just tedious though with his weird responses and inability to give straight answers, no pun intended. Perhaps his resistance has more to do with not offending his audience, the young girls and middle aged women who love a de-sexed performer.