‘Degrassi’ Star Comes Out

andPOP Staff — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:55:51 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Adamo Ruggiero has revealed that, like his “Degrassi” character, he is gay.

In an interview with eTalk that aired last night, 21-year-old Ruggiero said that it was “just time to talk.”

“Some people say ‘I knew from the beginning’ and in that sense I think I very much did,” Ruggiero said.

Of coming out to his family, Ruggiero said he was nervous, but they were supportive. “I come from a fantastic family but it was very scary.”

Ruggiero has previously struggled with answering direct questions about his sexuality, as he didn’t want to interfere with how fans viewed his character. “I completely understand people’s curiosity about the question,” Ruggiero said in a 2004 interview with The Advocate.

“When you’re watching a character on television every week, you believe in that person as you see him on the screen. But my answer to that question is, I don’t want to say, because I don’t want to relate myself to a character and get people more interested in me than in Marco. But at the same time, I don’t want to say that I’m the opposite of Marco, because I don’t want people to think I’m disconnected from my character. So, I think I’ll leave it up to the individual to decide, and hope they just focus on Marco.”

Ruggiero speaks more about his sexuality and his character in next weeks issue of fab magazine.

“Degrassi: The Next Generation” airs Mondays at 7:30 ET on CTV.

andPOP » fab magazine

‘Degrassi’ Star Comes Out