Actress and "The Talk" co-host Sara Gilbert revealed recently that she realized she was gay while dating "The Big Bang Theory" star Johnny Galecki.
Gilbert made the emotional confession about her sexuality Thursday as part of secret-spilling week on "The Talk," People magazine noted. She began by describing how she dated Galecki as a teenager back in the 1990s while filming "Roseanne."
"I thought he was super cute and had a total crush on him," she said. "We started dating and he would come over and we would make out, and then I would start to get depressed. Johnny felt badly, I think, and started to take it personally and didn't understand what was going on. So I eventually told him that I thought it was about my sexuality, and he was super sweet about it."
After the two had split up, the actress began dating a woman, 18 years her senior, who was also in the public eye. She didn't want it to get out, for fear it would damage her career, and Galecki kept it a secret. Even up until recently, when she got engaged to musician Linda Perry in April, the 38-year-old continued to worry about what these personal revelations could mean.
"I want to live a true life," she said. "Beyond that, we do often say things like 'it gets better'—and it does get better. I have an amazing life, but there can still be a struggle with it, and that's ok. There can be a part of you that doesn't want to be different or feel scared. And that is more important than any of it."
Before Thursday's episode, she called the "Big Bang" actor and told him she was planning on telling the story. He gave his full support, saying he is proud of her and offering to appear on the show to hold her hand if she needed.
Gilbert's sexuality was an open secret in Hollywood. Even though Gilbert began dating "Glee" writer-producer Alison Adler back in 2001, she didn't publicly come out as a lesbian until 2010 while promoting the premiere of "The Talk."
“I don’t ever really think of things as out or in,” Gilbert said, per Entertainment Weekly. “I just think I am who I am, and when topics come up that are appropriate, I’ll talk about them and share when it seems right.”
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