News | Entertainment
3 Jul 2025 16:39
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Jameela Jamil regrets coming out as queer when she did

    The 33-year-old actress felt forced into opening up about her sexuality after she was slammed with criticism for joining the new TV show 'Legendary' - a competition focused on ballroom culture and voguing - as many people thought the panel should be exclusively made up of queer people to reflect the show's themes


    And now, Jameela has said the momentary “outburst” was “not handled well”, as she admitted she would have preferred to come out “at a different time”.

    She explained: “It was just an outburst. That was not well handled. I’m just human and I snapped! If I could go back I would have done it at a different time. I don’t know when it’s ever really appropriate, but that was not the best time.”

    The ‘Good Place’ star “wrestled with the shame” of her sexuality for “a long time” as she says being queer isn’t “accepted” within her South Asian background.

    And Jameela kept the news quiet because she wanted to keep part of her private life to herself, but admitted it does feel “nice” to have it off her chest.

    She told Variety Live: “I come from a South Asian background, so you just don’t really have a lot of queer idols. There isn’t a lot of conversation around it. There isn’t a lot of acceptance for it within my culture, traditionally. It was just something that I wrestled with the shame of for a long time.

    “I have never felt like my private life is mine alone, so I’ve been trying to grapple with how to handle that for so long because I don’t like having my love life scrutinised. So I kept it quiet for a while to give myself some privacy and then it just burst out of me.

    “Not my favourite moment of the year. We live and we learn … it’s nice to have it off my chest.”

    Jameela spoke about her sexuality in a lengthy social media post last month, where she said it was “scary” to open up to the world before she was ready.

    She wrote: "This is why I never officially came out as queer. I added a rainbow to my name when I felt ready a few years ago, as it's not easy within the south Asian community to be accepted, and I always answered honestly if ever straight-up asked about it on Twitter.

    "But I kept it low because I was scared of the pain of being accused of performative bandwagon jumping, over something that caused me a lot of confusion, fear and turmoil when I was a kid.

    "I didn't come from a family with *anyone* openly out. It's also scary as an actor to openly admit your sexuality, especially when you're already a brown female in your thirties. This is absolutely not how I wanted it to come out.

    "I'm jumping off this hell app for a while because I don't want to read mean comments dismissing this. You can keep your thoughts. (sic)”

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     03 Jul: Neil Young joked about his dispute with the BBC after taking to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury
     03 Jul: Henry Golding thinks playing James Bond would be a "nightmare"
     03 Jul: Porsha Williams is taking a break from dating after finalising her divorce from Simon Guobadia
     03 Jul: Adult film star Kylie Paige has died aged 28
     03 Jul: Tom Sandoval found it "really hard" to overcome his cheating scandal
     03 Jul: Jana Kramer has accepted jobs that challenge her "moral compass"
     03 Jul: Heidi Montag has faced an "uphill battle" in the entertainment industry
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    Tupou Vaa'i has been tasked with moving to the blindside flank in a new-look All Blacks pack for Saturday's first test of the year against France More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    Consumer spending's continuing to pick up More...



     Today's News

    Boxing:
    Retirement hasn't lasted long for British boxing icon Tyson Fury 16:37

    Basketball:
    Kiwi basketballer Tyrell Harrison will play for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Summer League 16:17

    Politics:
    Trump’s ‘big beautiful bill’ has passed the US Senate – these are the winners and losers 16:07

    International:
    Sean 'Diddy' Combs: The rise, fall and acquittal of a hip hop mogul 16:07

    Entertainment:
    Neil Young joked about his dispute with the BBC after taking to the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury 16:06

    Entertainment:
    Henry Golding thinks playing James Bond would be a "nightmare" 15:36

    Rugby:
    Tupou Vaa'i has been tasked with moving to the blindside flank in a new-look All Blacks pack for Saturday's first test of the year against France 15:27

    Entertainment:
    Porsha Williams is taking a break from dating after finalising her divorce from Simon Guobadia 15:06

    Entertainment:
    Adult film star Kylie Paige has died aged 28 14:36

    National:
    Thumbs up: good or passive aggressive? How emojis became the most confusing kind of online language 14:17


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2025 New Zealand City Ltd