Kate Nash thought there was “something wrong” with her for being bisexual.
The 37-year-old star has recalled being at primary school and seeing how other kids reacted to a new pupil’s sexuality, which meant she tried to hide her own.
She told the ‘Origins with Cush Jumbo’ podcast: “I’m bisexual and I remember there was a bisexual girl at my primary school in the last year and she came new for the last year.
“And she would walk down the street reading a book. And everyone was like, ‘she’s so weird’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah’, she says she’s bisexual and we’re like ‘Weird, what a freak,’ you know.
“And then at school, I remember a girl saying to me, ‘It’s just so disgusting, the thought of two girls kissing, like just makes me feel sick,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, me too,’
“But actually, I’m like, ‘I think I want to kiss girls, is something wrong with me?’ “
When she was a teenager, the ‘GLOW’ actress felt a shift in the environment as she attended the BRIT School, where everyone was more accepting.
She added: “Everyone’s so cool and different and I had a ton of gay friends talking about all of their sexual experiences to me and wanted to be open…
“[I] could kiss girls finally without having to pretend it was gross.”
The ‘Foundations’ hitmaker also opened up on being told “masturbation is a sin” by her teachers.
She said: “The teacher was kind of laughing so I feel like the teacher kind of knew and because like one of the boys was like…‘What about on yourself?’
“And she was like, ‘Yeah, that’s a sin.’ And we’re all like, ‘Ah,’ because he’s talking about masturbating.
“I was like masturbating every night like sinning my soul away, desperately sinning.”
Kate previously discussed the impact of body shaming after “constantly being judged” as a woman in the public eye.
She told The Independent newspaper back in 2017: “People comment on my body all the time in a really inappropriate way, in a way I find completely offensive.
“[I] saw it in serious newspapers where I’ve been called ‘too fat’ and ‘too ugly’ to be a popstar. It’s so weird, but people feel like they can say that to you.”