Jonathan Knight is opening up about his sexuality.
While the 54-year-old New Kids On The Block singer is now openly gay and married to husband Harley Rodriguez, Jonathan admitted in a new interview that he once felt that being publicly out was not an option during the band’s early years.
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Jonathan recently appeared on Lance Bass‘ podcast Frosted Tips with Lance Bass where he said he was essentially forced to keep his sexuality a secret.
“My manager knew I was gay,” Jonathan said, adding that he didn’t feel it was something he could share publicly.
“Did they ever tell you you can’t say anything?” Lance asked.
“My manager actually did. He pulled me aside and was like, ‘If anybody finds out, your career is over. The New Kids’ career is over. My career is over,’” Jonathan recalled. “It was just so much pressure.”
“Looking back, that was a lot of pressure to put on somebody who’s just trying to figure out the world themselves,” Jonathan added. “As it went along, the stress built up and built up and built up.”
Jonathan then recalled being the first member of NKOTB to leave in 1994.
“Pop music was just not what it used to be and you know we went from arenas down to theaters and then eventually I left the New Kids and they continued on and they were doing nightclubs. And it just kept going down and down but I had jumped out early,” Jonathan said.
As for why he decided to leave the group, Jonathan said, “There were a few reasons. Number one, being a young gay kid I was frustrated and wanted to get on with my own life. The other reason, it just felt like it was not going anywhere and I just wanted to be home.”
NKOTB officially disbanded soon after, but reunited in 2008, and in 2009, one of Jonathan’s ex-boyfriends publicly outed him without his consent.
“Even when we got back together I still wasn’t out publicly,” Jonathan said. “It was a boyfriend of mine that sold pictures of us to the National Enquirer.”
After that, Jonathan recalls not wanting to make a formal announcement about his sexuality.
“I didn’t want to. I was just living my life… it wasn’t something I was hiding,” Jonathan recalled. “But then it was like, ‘No, you have to make a statement. You have to clear the air.’ And that whole process was horrible.”
Now happily married to Harley, Jonathan is glad that times have changed and people have become more accepting.
“Even the way people come out now has changed,” Jonathan said. “People will be doing an award show and just be like ‘I’d like to thank my husband blah blah blah…’ and nobody flinches.”
