Does Jonathan Bailey have a partner? Who is the lucky man?
One of the hottest members of Bridgerton‘s steamy cast, Jonathan Bailey, is getting more and more attention.
His steamy scenes in Fellow Travelers and his upcoming role in Wicked are drawing more eyes and creating new fans.
Bailey tends to be private about his personal life. But not so private that we don’t know his relationship status.
Is Jonathan Bailey seeing anyone?
In late 2023, just as the memorable, GIF-worthy, and award-winning Fellow Travelers wound down, Jonathan Bailey offered an interview with the Eastern Standard.
He opened up and revealed that he was in a relationship. But when it came to his partner, he was shy about details.
Bailey confirmed that he was dating a “lovely man.”
Jonathan Bailey attends the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024. (Photo Credit: Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
The entertainment industry has a long history of closeted LGBTQ+ actors. Even in 2024, there are actors who keep their relationships, sexuality, or even gender a secret. Some to protect their careers (yes, really) and others to avoid backlash from family.
But that is not what’s going on with Jonathan Bailey. He is very much out.
He issued an important clarification: “It’s not secret, but it’s private.”
Jonathan Bailey attends the Burberry show during London Fashion Week February 2024 in Victoria Park on February 19, 2024. (Photo Credit: Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
Jonathan Bailey values his privacy
“Having a private life is, for me, completely critical,” he expressed. “I don’t know if I would be able to be as confident to speak out on other things if I felt that my whole life was up for grabs.”
Within the same interview, Bailey explained how he — like so many LGBTQ+ Millennials — grew up feeling internalized shame. Growing up in a homophobic society is extremely damaging, and he saw that everyone, including in the media that he watched.
“The majority of gay people were either the butt of jokes, or being caught in sexual acts and considered deviants, or they were committing suicide, or they were dying of AIDS,” Bailey recalled accurately of LGBTQ+ representation.
Jonathan Bailey attends The 2024 BAFTA Tea Party at The Maybourne Beverly Hills on January 13, 2024. (Photo Credit: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
Bailey then accurately characterized: “Every five years is a different gay generation. It was nowhere near as tough as if I’d have been born 15 years earlier. Me and my friends, two in four, if not three in four, would not be here.”
He is, of course, right. In some ways LGBTQ+ youth who are currently teens may face more acceptance. But they are also the targets of nationwide hate campaigns by political opportunists.
Homophobic parents of kids Bailey’s age might not have suspected their child of being anything other than cis and straight, while LGBTQ+ youth born 15 years or so after Bailey may have faced the downside of increased community visibility.
Audiences are lucky to have Jonathan Bailey (and so is his partner)
Amidst the increasingly watered down and often removed sex scenes in film and television, Bailey and Matt Bomer brought a lot of horny authenticity to their performances in Fellow Travelers.
Jonathan Bailey does not owe anyone a revelation of his partner’s name. Or any other private details.
We can all be happy that he’s happy. It wasn’t so many “gay generations” (to borrow his terminology) ago that Bailey would have had to be in a lavender marriage in order to work in film. Things get better, however slowly.
Jonathan Bailey’s Partner: Who is The ‘Bridgerton’ Star Dating? was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.