Troye Sivan. Picture: Candice Chaplin Troye Sivan. Picture: Candice Chaplin
SOUTH African-born actor Troye Sivan has made the scariest video of his life – he has come out to the world.
Sivan, 18, best known for his role as the title character in the Spud series of films, released a YouTube video on August 7 in which he revealed he was gay.
In the past week scores of fans have shown their appreciation for his message by tweeting him and posting on his Facebook page.
The video, titled Coming Out, had more than 770 000 views by late on Monday.
“This is probably the most nervous I have been in my entire life but I am going to deal with it because I have something to tell you guys, as you can probably see by the title of this video.”
Sivan explained that he had told his family he was gay on August 7, 2010, and had chosen to let all of his fans know on the third anniversary of that date.
“I want you guys to know that I am gay.
“It feels kind of weird to have to announce it like this on the internet, but I feel like a lot of you guys are like real genuine friends of mine and I share everything with the internet…
“And whether or not that is a good thing or not, I don’t know, but this is not something that I am ashamed of, and it’s not something anybody should have to be ashamed of, so why not share it with all of you guys?”
Sivan went on to explain in the seven-minute clip that he hoped his coming out would help young people who were grappling with their own sexuality.
“I’m terrified. I know some people will have a problem with this.
“This could change everything for me. But it shouldn’t have to and that is why I am making this video…
“When I was born I always knew there was something a little different about me. I couldn’t figure out what it was.
“The word ‘gay’ scared me a lot when I was younger and I knew that wasn’t a good thing. I’ve always been this way and I have always known something was up.”
He ended the video by promising fans that he would post information about resources that could help young people.
Sivan posted the video to his Facebook account, which had nearly 63 000 likes, and Twitter, with more than 277 000 followers, with the message: “Here it is! Been looking forward to this for a long time now. Crazy butterflies in my stomach.”
Earlier that day he had tweeted: “Big day today.”
After posting the link to the video, Sivan tweeted: “Just saw #WeAreProudOfYouTroye is trending worldwide.
“I can’t put into words how much I appreciate you guys.” - The Mercury