Matt Dallas: From Hollywood’s Closet to Living His Truth
In 2006, Matt Dallas was living what many aspiring actors could only dream of — starring as the mysterious teen in ABC Family’s hit sci-fi series Kyle XY. With his boy-next-door charm and breakout performance, Dallas was poised to become one of Hollywood’s next big stars.
But behind the fame, he was living a reality few ever saw — one that countless gay actors in Hollywood quietly endure.
“I was told to stay in the closet, not to talk about my sexuality, and to show up on every red carpet with a girl on my arm,” Dallas later revealed. “Because if you were openly gay, you couldn’t be successful in front of the camera.”
For years, the entertainment industry whispered those same rules, pushing queer actors into silence. Dallas was no exception.
Then came a turning point that would change everything. Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton publicly outed him, and his management team scrambled to control the damage. They booked him on The Howard Stern Show to deny the rumors — a moment Dallas would later describe as one of the most painful of his career.
“That was the worst day of my life,” he said. “I woke up at 3 a.m. for an interview I wasn’t prepared for. Within minutes, it turned into fifteen minutes of questions about how many women I’d slept with. It was brutal.”
That day, Dallas hid under a blanket, overwhelmed by the pressure and humiliation.
But years later, in 2013, he decided to take his story back — on his own terms. With no media circus, no carefully crafted PR statement, Dallas came out in the simplest, most authentic way possible: a single tweet announcing his engagement to musician Blue Hamilton.
“Starting the year off with a new fiancé, Blue Hamilton,” he wrote. “A great way to kick off 2013!”
The tweet marked a quiet revolution — not just for Dallas, but for every LGBTQ+ performer who had ever been told to hide who they were.
Today, Matt Dallas is happily married, a proud father, and thriving in his 40s. His social media radiates joy, love, and authenticity — proof that living truthfully can be the greatest success of all.
Once told that being openly gay would destroy his career, Dallas now stands as living proof of the opposite.
Sometimes, the most powerful comeback isn’t a blockbuster role —
it’s simply being free to live, love, and be yourself.
