Megan Barton-Hanson has said she regrets not coming out as bisexual while she was on Love Island in 2018.
Speaking on The Independent’s relationships podcast, Millennial Love, the 26-year-old explained that she didn’t want to add to the perception that she was “really sexual” on the programme.
Barton-Hanson recalled meeting Dr Alex George on the programme and telling him that she worked as a stripper.
“From that point I thought, ‘Oh god, I’m going to be perceived as really sexual, I’m probably going to get slut-shamed on the outside world.' So I didn’t want to add to that and be like, ‘oh I like girls too’. ”
The model went on to explain how she felt her career inhibited her from coming out as bisexual.
“It took me so long to come out because I worked in the sex industry because I didn’t want it to be for the male gaze, or for people to think, oh she’s doing it for attention, or to seem more appealing to men. That is the furthest thing from the truth,” she said before going on to recall the moment she did speak publicly about her sexuality in 2019’s series of Celebs Go Dating.
“So that’s why I kept it so quiet until I went on another show,” she said.
"I was struggling to meet gay girls. It’s so hard when you’re into feminine girls and you’re feminine yourself, it’s really hard to navigate who is gay and who’s not.
"So it thought, this show is perfect, they can go and get me some cute girls."
In the episode, Barton-Hanson also opened up about her split from her Love Island partner, Wes Nelson.
“I don’t have a bad word to say about him but that relationship broke down ultimately because of our priorities,” she said.
"So he was very career-driven, taking every job under the sun and rightly so.
"But because I’d already experienced having money fairly easy with the stripping, I was more dedicated and focused on the relationship, so it’s super hard to get that balance just right and work together.”
You can listen to the full episode of Millennial Love here.
