Content warning: This story discusses suicidal ideation
Chris Appleton is reflecting on a difficult chapter.
The celebrity hairstylist, who has worked with Kim Kardashian and Ariana Grande, recently detailed coming out as gay at age 26 to his former partner Kate Katon and their two kids Billy, today 22, and Kitty-blu, today 20.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to hurt all these people I’ve created this life with,’” Chris shared on the August 6 episode of On Purpose with Jay Shetty, adding of his life with Kate: “We were together for nine years, had two kids and it was a magical nine years. I honestly thought I had it all figured out.”
Indeed, Chris detailed the family’s stereotypical domestic life before he realized he was gay, and “it all came crashing down.”
“I really loved her,” he explained. “I didn’t want to be gay. I didn’t want to be different.”
For Chris, 44, realizing his true sexuality felt like “breathing,” though it was immediately followed by a deep sense of shame. As he put it, “That was a process.”
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