Alan Carr is "not totally comfortable being gay".
Alan Carr
The 41-year-old comedian and TV presenter has admitted he feels uneasy speaking about his sexuality, and that unsettling feeling leaves him feeling "guilty".
During an interview with Radio 4's Front Row, which was broadcast as part of their Queer Icons series, the funnyman said: "[J R Ackerley] he was a full, out homosexual when it was illegal. He really didn't care. And he wrote about it. He was born in 1896 and died in 1967. I found it really refreshing because you read a lot of gay stuff from the 60's and there's hang-ups and depression and all, but he doesn't care.
He continued: "He's so matter-of-fact, his homosexuality. Whereas I have a bit of guilt about it. I'm not totally comfortable being gay, but he's so... he absolutely loves it. And for all the promiscuity about him, he's very honest, because it starts out as an exploration of his relationship with his own father. You find out that the father actually had gay affairs himself."
The 'Chatty Man' host, who got engaged to his partner Paul Drayton last year, has admitted he struggled declaring his sexuality to his father.
He added: "I mean, I remember when I came out it was really hard and awkward and uncomfortable. My dad was, and still is, is involved in football. He's a football manager, this tough-talking Geordie, there's no homosexuality ever in the family tree and then I came along."