27 celebrities who came out in 2026. one did it on valentine's day. one did it at a gay bar's birthday party.
via Them, PinkNews, People and the outlets linked in each entry
Updated October 10, 2026: three names added, two March coming outs from football we had not finished checking and one from this week.
Here are 27 famous people who came out in 2026 so far, and the methods tell you everything about the year: a Valentine's Day selfie dump, a Swedish talk show, a New Year's Day Instagram, a podcast literally called I've Never Said This Before, a gay bar's 35th birthday party, a Rosalía concert, a Housewives trailer, a Big Brother Diary Room and a radio show called GayFL. National Coming Out Day is October 11. Consider this the class photo.
One rule built this list. Every person here said it themselves, in their own words, on the record, and every entry links to where. Nobody was guessed at, "long rumored," or read off a fan wiki. We have written about what being outed on live television costs a person, and it is not a content strategy.
who came out in 2026
Marumi Yamazaki, former Japan national team footballer
The year's first coming out landed on New Year's Day. Yamazaki, who played for Japan's national team, posted on Instagram that he is a trans man, that he had changed the gender on his family register to male, and that he had married "a really wonderful woman," per PinkNews and GCN. He did it quietly first and told the rest of us later, which is the correct order.
Tara Nova, Canada's Drag Race
The season five queen came out as a trans woman in an Instagram post on her 25th birthday in January, saying she had spent the past year on HRT "mostly under wraps until I worked up enough courage to let my family know. Now I'm ready for everyone to be on the same page." She told fans she was "so happy and incredibly emotional," per PinkNews and Them. Best birthday caption of the year, and it was barely January.
AJ Ogilvy, retired NBL center
Photo: Dennis Adair via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, taken in 2010.
The Australian basketballer came out as gay in January in a conversation with Isaac Humphries, the NBL's only active openly gay player. He said he spent years believing "to be a basketballer, I had to present as straight," and revealed he had been married for about 18 months to a man he met while he was still playing, per Pride and Them. The husband was apparently the least surprised person in Australia.
Fontana, Drag Race Sverige
Photo: IngWen22 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, taken in 2024.
The Brazilian performer, runner-up on the first season of Drag Race Sverige and later on UK vs the World, came out as a trans woman on a Swedish talk show in January. She had previously been out as nonbinary and told PinkNews that "identifying as non-binary was a beautiful and important part of my journey toward truly finding myself." A nice reminder that a label can be a stop on the route and not a mistake.
Marina Summers, Drag Race Philippines
Photo: DVSROSS via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, taken in 2023.
The Drag Race Philippines runner-up and UK vs the World star came out as trans on Instagram in February, explaining she had started socially transitioning in early 2025 and began hormones later that year. "I chose to keep the first part of this journey with my innermost circle," she wrote, and now "I'm ready to open the door a little wider and let you all into my journey," per the Star Observer and Them.
Keke Palmer, actor and host
Photo: Dominick D via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0, taken in 2016.
Palmer came out the most Keke way possible: a Valentine's Day Instagram recap. "Absolutely nothing romantic went down," she wrote, adding, "But I like no one and I'm almost 100% sure I'm asexual," per the Advocate and Elite Daily. She has talked openly about her sexuality for years, so call it an update rather than a debut, and a win for every ace person who has had to explain themselves at a family dinner.
the spring rush
Anna Camp, Pitch Perfect and Scream 7
Photo: Nehrams2020 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, taken in 2014.
Camp came out publicly as bisexual on the March 10 episode of the podcast I've Never Said This Before with Tommy DiDario, which, credit where due, is the correct podcast to do it on. "As a 43-year-old woman, I am very proud of myself for owning my sexuality at this age," she said. "I'm really proud to be bisexual," per People and Attitude. Her line on why: "I only get one life and I want to be happy." Aca-proud.
Christian Dobrick, FC St. Pauli youth coach
Dobrick, who coaches St. Pauli's Under-19 side, came out in March in interviews with German media and became the first coach at a men's Bundesliga club to do it publicly, per Attitude and ZDF. "This charade has drained me too much," he said, per PinkNews and Attitude. At earlier clubs, he told Stern, "I kept my homosexuality a secret from the players." An encounter with Jürgen Klopp helped push him there. His line to ZDF, translated: in pro football, gay men are still treated like aliens. He is now the alien with a coaching badge, and the club put out a statement backing him.
Leigh Ryswyk, former Brisbane Lions player
Ryswyk played one AFL game for the Lions in 2005, then more than 200 for North Adelaide, and in March he became the first male AFL player, past or present, to come out publicly, on the GayFL show on Melbourne's JOY 94.9, per Pedestrian and Express. "To people who know me, my closest friends, this is not new. I've been out for five years now," he said. "I'm a very private person." A whole league's history, and the first one is a man who mostly wanted you to know it was not a big deal. The American leagues' version of this list is not much longer.
Cara Delevingne, model and actor
Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, taken in 2016.
Delevingne has dated women publicly for years, but on May 6 she finally gave it a word, onstage at the O2 in London during the confessional segment of Rosalía's show. "If you didn't know already, I'm a lesbian, and my weakness used to be straight women," she told the arena, per Complex and DIVA. Her theory on why: "Maybe because they weren't really straight, you know, that's the point." Coming out as a confession at a Rosalía show is the most Cara possible venue, and we would expect nothing less.
Thora Birch, Hocus Pocus and Ghost World
Photo: Super Festivals from Ft. Lauderdale, USA via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0, taken in 2023.
Birch came out on May 20 on the carpet at The Abbey's 35th anniversary in West Hollywood, telling Us Weekly she supports the community "which shaped so much of who I am and my identity as well, being a bi person," per InStyle and PinkNews. Her rep said The Abbey has always felt like home to her. Coming out at your hometown gay bar's birthday party is the most hometown-girl thing imaginable, and yes, The Abbey is in our LA bar guide.
Caleb Shomo, Beartooth
Photo: Frank Schwichtenberg via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, taken in 2018.
The metalcore frontman posted a statement to Instagram on May 23: "I am a proudly gay man. This is something I've been unpacking and reckoning with in my life for quite some time now," per Loudwire and PinkNews. He also looked back on "4 very self deprecating albums" about his religious upbringing, depression and self-loathing. The fans who spent a decade screaming those lyrics now get to hear them differently.
pride month and after
Kane Evans, former NRL player
Evans, who played for the Sydney Roosters, Parramatta Eels and New Zealand Warriors, came out as gay in June in an interview with Channel Nine's 100% Footy, per ABC News, the Star Observer and GCN. "Because I was living in denial," he said. "From a young age, I knew that I'm gay." He is the second former male NRL player to come out publicly, after Ian Roberts more than 30 years earlier. Rugby league took three decades to produce a second one, which says less about the players than about the sport.
Dayna Kathan, Vanderpump Rules
Kathan, who first came out as bisexual in 2019, updated the label in a Pride carousel on Instagram in June: "Shout out to my fellow late in life lesbians!!" per PinkNews and Yahoo. Seven years from bi to lesbian, which in reality-TV time is practically overnight.
Hannah McMechan, KPop Demon Hunters co-writer
McMechan told People in June that she came out as bisexual while writing the Netflix hit. "When I started the project, I had no idea that I was queer," she said, and "I was so afraid of telling anyone in my life, which ironically is very accurate to the movie." She told her parents in 2023. She and co-writer Danya Jimenez are now working on a queer western, which she says is "difficult to get funding for." Somebody with a checkbook, please.
Layla Taylor, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives
Taylor closed out Pride Month on the June 29 episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty: "I'm gay and I'm bi and date women and men." Later: "I'm very proud to be bi, and I'm very proud now to be out," per Out and PinkNews. The secret life, it turns out, was the one we were rooting for.
the summer and fall
Hailey Glassman, The Real Housewives of New York
The season 16 newcomer did it in the trailer, which is the most Bravo possible venue. "I'm in a lavender marriage," Glassman says. "I sleep with women intimately as well," per PinkNews and Out. She did not pick a label, so neither will we. RHONY keeps casting queer women, and we keep watching.
James Haven, filmmaker
Angelina Jolie's brother, the 53-year-old son of Jon Voight, came out in August during a livestream on the Substack of his ex-wife, Romi Imbelli, per PinkNews and InStyle. "I'm gay," he told her. In a letter he read out, he wrote: "Like so many gay kids, I learned to question parts of myself long before I learned to celebrate them." Imbelli, briefly his wife in 2024, put it best: "I wasn't here to out someone I love. I was here to help set someone free." Divorce goals, honestly.
Silja Kosonen, Finnish hammer thrower
Photo: Daieuxetdailleurs via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, taken in 2024.
Kosonen, 23, won European Championships gold in Birmingham on August 12 and went public with her girlfriend, Senni Viren, a futsal player on Finland's national team, per PinkNews and Yle. She told Yle that since she met Viren at the start of the year, life has been smiling at her differently, and that she has found someone she can be herself with. Gold medal, girlfriend in the stands. Some people get the whole movie.
Missi Pyle, Galaxy Quest
Photo: Gage Skidmore via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, taken in 2016.
On Netflix's Shut Up Evan in August, King Princess asked Pyle, "Are you cool with whatever gender?" Pyle: "Yeah, I am." Then: "I would say that I've been mostly in heterosexual relationships, but I have had others," per PinkNews and GCN. King Princess crowned her a "bisexual diva" on the spot. Pyle herself skipped the label and laughed, which is allowed. Coming out in a group chat with King Princess is the 2026 version of a debutante ball.
Freddie Fraser, The Traitors
The Traitors UK contestant went public with his boyfriend, Bailey Ramsden, in August, then named it on the Not My Bagg podcast: "I kind of realised I was bisexual maybe six or seven months ago. It's quite a new thing," per PinkNews and Attitude. Of all the people on that show to finally stop hiding something, we did not have him on our list.
Gillian Anderson, The X-Files and Sex Education
Photo: Gabriel Hutchinson via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, taken in 2026.
Anderson has talked about her sexuality for years. In September she settled on the word, telling The Australian she is "pan, as in pansexual, as in attracted to all genders," per PinkNews and GCN. Like Dayna Kathan above, an update, not a debut. The woman who taught a generation sex ed has filed her own homework.
Nell Mescal, singer-songwriter
Paul Mescal's younger sister talked about her sexuality publicly for the first time in a September interview with Gay Times. "I'd only been dating men, and I was having a horrible experience and all my songs were sad," she said. She came out to her family around Christmas, and as for why now: "Now felt like the right time because I'm in love," per Gay Times and Classic Hits. She did not use a label, so we do not either. Paul, your move.
Frankie Taber, Big Brother
The 23-year-old housemate went into the Diary Room on ITV2 on September 15 and told Big Brother he had come on the show to come out as bisexual. "I've been in pain for so long now, probably about a year and a half, two years," he said, per Attitude and PinkNews. Telling a camera before telling your housemates is a very reality-TV kind of brave, and it still counts.
Rui Takahashi, Japanese volleyball
The 26-year-old Suntory Sunbirds Osaka player came out as gay in an Instagram post on September 29, per the Japan Times and Jiji Press. He wrote that conversations with his younger brother, national team star Ran Takahashi, were what finally let him accept himself, and that he hoped speaking up would help someone else. Openly gay pro athletes are vanishingly rare in Japan, which is why we wrote about it the day it happened.
Within a day, Reon Arao, a 25-year-old player in the same league, posted that if he had to pick a letter, his sexuality is closest to Q, for questioning, and credited Takahashi's courage for getting him there, per Gay Times and Attitude. One coming out, then another the next day. That is how it is supposed to work.
Alfie Watts, Race Across the World
Watts, who won series four of the BBC One travel show in 2024 with his friend Owen Wood, came out in an Instagram photo carousel in October. "I'm bisexual and this is the first time I've ever said it online," he wrote, per Attitude and Bang Showbiz via Yahoo. Also from the post: "What a terrifying thing to say out loud." He won a race across the world on television, and the scary part was the caption. Fair, honestly.
how this list stays honest
We will update this page as more people come out before the year ends, and every addition gets the same test: their words, their platform or an outlet that interviewed them, a link you can click. If someone we list changes the word they use, we change it too. If we got something wrong, tell us and we will fix it with a date on it.
