Comedian Joe Lycett has spoken candidly with broadcaster Fearne Cotton about how others view his sexuality, revealing that he has never called himself gay despite his camp public persona.
The pair discussed their identities and how figuring them out in the public eye can be challenging. Fearne, 44, began the conversation on her Happy Place podcast by admitting that at the end of her Radio 1 career she started to become a 'very beige version' of herself because she was 'so terrified' that everyone hated her.
'I've never been gay'
Joe, 38, then added that before his paternity leave, he felt he had got a 'bit stiff and lost who [he] was'. He went on to say he had become caught up in his 'identity as a public persona'.
'Lots of people were surprised when I had a child with a woman, because they were like: "But you're the gay man." And I've never said that I'm gay because I've never been gay. But because I'm camp and I do innuendo and all those sorts of things, people have this idea of what that is,' he said.
The Taskmaster star explained how that triggered self-reflection, causing him to ask himself if he had a true idea of who he was and if his stage persona was the same as him.
Baby announcement and pansexuality
Both media personalities admitted they still were not totally confident in who they were, which Fearne said she thought was 'maybe quite healthy'.
Joe welcomed his first child in October 2024, posting a picture on his Instagram at the time. The proud Brummy keeps his private life under wraps and had not shared news that he was expecting a baby with his girlfriend, who he calls by the pseudonym 'Denise'. This caused some followers to momentarily question whether his announcement was another one of his famous pranks.
In the past, Joe has set out to fool the nation with various stunts. One involved him 'shredding £10,000' in protest of David Beckham's role as an ambassador for the Qatar World Cup – only for him to then reveal he had not really destroyed the money.
After revealing to the world he was a father, Joe took the opportunity to remind his followers about his pansexuality. Instead of writing a sincere post, he teased his followers by jokingly claiming: 'Pansexuality is actually nothing to do with gender or any of that woke stuff but mating rituals which are primarily to do with smell and are strictly seasonal.'
He went on: 'Generally the smells they are attracted to are blueberry flavour disposable vapes, Alpro soy milk (unsweetened), nail varnish remover, and coins. Some really like chicken jalfrezi (NEVER, EVER put a lamb korma near a pansexual). I hope that clears things up.'
Past comments on pansexuality
The TV star has spoken about being pansexual in the past, telling Bimini Bon Boulash there was a 'brief period' when he thought he was gay because he was 'attracted to men', but then he was like 'whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on'.
At the time he said he used the term bisexual if he 'wanted to give a quick answer because people understand that'. However, he added: 'I think the most accurate way of describing myself is pansexual, in that I'm not attracted to people, just because of their gender.'
Fearne Cotton's Happy Place is available on Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music, Acast, Podbean and Apple.
