Canadian singer-songwriter, Shawn Mendes has revealed the ‘truth’ about his sexuality amid gay rumors.
The Canadian hitmaker, 26, got candid about his sexuality as he spoke to crowd at his Colorado concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Monday.
During an intimate moment of his For Friends and Family Tour show, he addressed the ‘truth’ about his love life.
The singer, who famously dated Camila Cabello, told his fans he was trying to be ‘really brave’ and still ‘figuring it out.’
‘There’s this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it so long,’ he added, saying it was ‘kind of silly, because I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and it’s so hard to just put into boxes.’
‘The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone.’
‘It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me. Something that I was figuring out in myself, something that I had yet to discover and still have yet to discover it.’
‘And it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that. And I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things. And that’s all I really want to say about that for now.’
Shawn also shared: ‘I was really young when I started. I was 15 years old. The truth is that I didn’t get to do a lot of 15-year-old things and discover parts of myself that you do at 15.’
The artist sings about his sexuality in his new song, The Mountain.
He made the remarks while introducing the song at the show.
The lyrics to the song include the line: ‘You can say I’m too young/You can say I’m too old/You can say I like girls or boys, whatever fits your mold.’
He also spoke about his journey while writing the new song.
‘Writing the song felt really important to me because it felt like a moment where I could address it in a way that felt close to my heart,’ he said.
‘And I guess I’m just speaking freely now, because I just want to be able to be closer to everyone and just kind of be in my truth.’
He previously discussed speculation about his sexuality in a 2018 Rolling Stone interview.
‘I thought, “You f*****g guys are so lucky I’m not actually gay and terrified of coming out,’ he said at the time.
‘That’s something that kills people. That’s how sensitive it is. Do you like the songs? Do you like me? Who cares if I’m gay?’
He also spoke about feeling the pressure to be seen out with women in order to prove he was ‘not gay.’
‘In the back of my heart, I feel like I need to go be seen with someone — like a girl — in public, to prove to people that I’m not gay. Even though in my heart I know that it’s not a bad thing. There’s still a piece of me that thinks that. And I hate that side of me.’
Shawn has only ever publicly dated women, such as fellow singer Camila Cabello.
The pair went public as a couple over the summer of 2019 and broke up in 2021. They briefly reunited last year only to break up after six weeks.