I bedded 30 girls on TV and snogged Chloe Ferry – now I’m dating the man I want to marry, reveals Geordie Shore’s Grant
A FORMER Geordie Shore star has revealed he’s now found love with a man after “hiding his real self” for years.
Grant Coulson, 31, first appeared on the hit MTV reality show in 2014, before returning in 2018 and like many of the stars during the show’s heyday, he spent his time getting “mortal” and bedding lasses for entertainment.
But now, for the first time, Grant has bravely opened up about keeping his sexuality secret while on the show, telling us he’s finally ready for the world to know.
Grant, who says he bedded at least 30 women during his time on the programme, has decided to be open after falling for a lad called Scott, who he hopes to marry one day.
He says: “I think now I just feel more comfortable with who I am. For years I hid the real me and now I am finally happy, I feel like everyone needs to know the real me. I feel like I have been hiding myself for such a long period of time, it just a bit of a weight lifted off my shoulders.
“I think I have known for years but more people are more open to it now. It’s not the 1800s, no one’s really bothered anymore.”
Grant says he chose to keep it secret when he was younger because he didn’t want it to ruin his chances with reality TV, even though he found the experience “uncomfortable”.
“When I was doing TV shows I didn’t want anyone to know back then because I feel like it would have ruined the opportunity,” he explains.
“It was a bit like you were in a character because on Geordie Shore, you are around these alpha males who go out every night pulling lasses basically.
“And that’s the kind of people they wanted on the show at the time, yeah. So I had to go along with that, it wasn’t who I was but for so long I had to pretend to be that kind of thing.”
In the end, the pretence all came too much for Grant and he was forced to step away from the limelight.
At his lowest, as he struggled with his secret, Grant was hospitalised. He tells us: “I would beat myself up, think how much more of this can I do, how much longer can I lie for and be this person I’m not.
“I was actually hospitalised, I was on anxiety medication. I couldn’t work, I stopped socialising with people. I locked myself away for a good six months.”
Despite the mental and physical toll on his body, Grant has only felt happy to talk about being gay in recent months.
He credits finding Scott for helping him come out, saying: “I 100% I wouldn’t be talking about it, it’s only because I have found someone I am comfortable with, who is exactly the same as me. He just brings out the best in me and I bring out the best in him.
“He moved in and we have some big plans in the next couple of months. We have a dog together, called Hugo, so it’s going well.
“I feel like he is the one, I have definitely settled down. I hope marriage is on the cards.”
Grant has now told his closest family members and a few of the Geordie Shore cast mates, including Chloe Ferry, who he had a fling with and Natalie Phillips.
He says: “I wanted [my family] to find out without physically saying the words ‘I’m gay’. I wanted them to find out I am now with a boy, and this is who I am. I still can’t really say those words – I find it difficult – but now I am happy, I feel like I probably could.”
And he’s excited at the prospect of no longer living a lie, adding: “I feel like it’s probably the right time because everyone will know at the same time.
“It’s a relief rather than me telling everyone personally, I feel like everyone will just know and that will be a massive relief.”