Ingrid Nilsen has shared a big secret with her followers on YouTube today—the video star and Project Runway Threads judge is gay.
Posting an emotional video, Nilsen cuts right to the chase and tells the truth about who she is. Obviously overcome with relief, she starts to cry and says, "It feels so good to say that."
She adds, "This moment is real and it's here, and I've been waiting for this a long time."
It's not just a simple confession and then a mic-drop ending. Nilsen sits in front of the camera and opens up about everything, including growing up in a not-so-accepting household and her romantic relationships with men. Although there are tough moments in her life she wants to keep to herself, she says she's coming clean because her fans have been "a part of my life for almost six years, and this is a really big part of my life."
Nilsen adds that she has told "friends and people who are close" to her, but this was her final step towards coming completely out of the closet. She titled the video "Something I Want You to Know," and while she appears relieved to share her secret, she also admits that it has been hard.
"It was accepted by some but definitely not the majority, and that was difficult," she says, adding, "Very difficult."
Often faced with the question of when she realized she was gay, Nilsen explains that there's a simple and a complicated. Simple because "it's just been there" but complicated because it was tough to put into words, especially since some in her life wouldn't have been accepting. Because of this, she kept her secret contained.
"I shoved it in a corner because I basically was seeking love and approval," she confesses.
She goes onto explain how she was able to date men romantically, but reveals she was just "going through the motions." She mentions her most recent boyfriend, dubbing him the "last man" she'll ever be with, and starts to cry as she gushes over how lucky she was to have someone so "kind, respectful and supportive." At the end of the day, she couldn't continue lying to herself.
"I didn't think I deserved to be happy," she says. But since coming out she has realized that she deserves to give herself her "best chance."