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MELBOURNE - Pop singer Anthony Callea has confirmed he is gay but denies he was ever pressured to hide his sexuality.
"Yes, I am gay," Callea told News Limited newspapers in an interview published today.
It has long been rumoured that Callea, the runner-up from Australian Idol's second series, is homosexual, despite denials in a 2004 Herald Sun interview.
Callea was inadvertently outed in a Sydney radio gossip segment earlier this month by an announcer and acquaintance who thought the singer's sexuality was common knowledge.
Callea told newspapers he had been planning to come out, before the announcer accidentally did it for him.
But Callea, 24, says he is now comfortable enough to reveal his sexuality.
"I have no issue with my sexuality now but it's taken time to become confident with who I am and happy with who I am," he said.
- AAP