Matty Healy talks exploring sexuality

14 November 2018

Matty Healy "kind of" wants to kiss guys.

Matty Healy

The 1975 frontman - who is in a relationship with model Gabriella Brooks - insists he isn't attracted to men in a "carnal, sexual way" but he has shared same-sex smooches in the past.

Asked if he's attracted to men, he said: "Yes, but not in a carnal, sexual way. The other sex is still attractive, it's just that sex is weird, isn't it? Do you know what I mean? It's, like, Do I want to do b**w jobs with a guy? No. Do I want to kiss a guy? Yeah, kind of..."

And asked if he has kissed a guy, he said: "Yes."

The 29-year-old star - who is the son of actors Tim Healy and Denise Welch - recalled the first time he ever saw a "passionate kiss" was between two male friends of his mother and he admitted it made him crave the same "intimacy" the dancers were sharing with their "sexy" smooch.

He told Shortlist magazine: "The first passionate kiss I saw was between two blokes. I remember it vividly.

"How intimate it was, and I wanted that intimacy. It was an erotic and sexual presentation to do in front of a child, now I think of it.

"I just saw it as sexy. As a kid, if you see two grown-ups kiss properly, you're a bit like: 'What's that? What's that feeling? I didn't know we did that with each other.' I think my perceived ideas of masculinity stem from my first idea of sexuality."

The 'Chocolate' hitmaker recalled how he used to "look up" to his parents' successful gay friends and questioned his own "flamboyant" nature."

He said: "Well, you can look at whether sexuality is a social construct - which, of course, it isn't.

"But when I was a kid most of the people [around me] who were successful and doing what they wanted to do were gay. I associated that freedom of self with freedom of expression. I think I looked up to them, not as pariahs or outsiders, but as people who were truly themselves. I've always found that engaging.

"I've thought: 'Maybe it's unusual to be as flamboyant as I am, or unusual to be as in the gay world as I am... What does that mean? Am I a bit gay?' And then I was, like, 'No, that's not how it works!' It comes down to who you want to f**k."