Can you screw it up for yourself by coming out too early? Calum Scott, the British singer we first came into contact with on Britain’s Got Talent has a story that might shine some light on the issue. Speaking on the We Need To Talk podcast with host Paul C Brunson, Scott revealed that coming out at the age of 14 led to the painful loss of his closest friends and a profound sense of isolation.
Scott remembered a seemingly casual conversation that became a turning point: 'We were just talking and it would come up again and I was just so down and fed up of the questioning, when he asked me I was like, "I don’t know if I’m interested in girls" and he was like "What? Are you trying to tell me you’re gay?"” The singer admitted that he replied, 'Maybe', to which his friend responded with a terse 'Alright' before distancing himself and telling the rest of their friend group.
The aftermath was immediate and emotionally devastating. 'The next day, nobody came to call for me, nobody came to walk me to school, and I went up to school and none of them wanted to talk to me at lunch,' Scott said. For a teenager whose social world revolved around his friendships, this rejection had a devastating impact: 'My whole life was my friendship group at that point, so for me my life was ruined from something I didn’t really understand and that was horrible, probably one of the lowest times in my life, I’d say personally.'
This early experience of being dumped by his friends and the internalised homophobia it sparked lingered for many years. 'Because of the loss I’d had with my friends, I resented that part of myself and had done for a long, long time,' he explained. However, the following years saw a significant shift in his journey towards self-acceptance and confidence. 'I think I would say the last five years have just gone full 180 on it and I’m like, "I love who I am",' he shared.
This transformation found a powerful voice in his music, notably in the song No Matter What, co-written with Toby Gad, who has worked with high-profile artists like John Legend. The track directly addresses Scott’s experience of coming out and serves as an anthem of resilience and self-love. Reflecting on the song’s significance, Scott described it as 'a suit of armour… like the holy grail for me because it enabled me to be truly myself without any judgment on myself, without any hatred on myself.'
And he is aware that the song resonates with a much wider audience. 'I knew more than that it wasn’t just my story, it would be millions of people around the world.'
Source: Noah Wire Services