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Former X Factor contestant Christopher Maloney has admitted that he's gay - and has been in a relationship with his current boyfriend for three years.
Maloney never spoke about his sexuality on the show, although fellow contestants Jaymi Hensley, Rylan Clark, Lucy Spraggan and Jade Ellis all openly said they were gay.
In a recent interview with Now magazine, Maloney was asked if he was gay and said, "Do you know what, I’m going to admit it - yeah."
He went on to explain why he hadn't spoken out about his sexuality while on the show, saying, "Honestly, I’ve never denied it or anything like that. It’s just that with the show it was always an inappropriate time or people just asked inappropriate questions."
Maloney also spoke about the strain that being on The X Factor put on his relationship, continuing, "It’s been tough. I’ve got to admit it – it’s been really tough. But we are still together. It isn’t that I’ve changed but the people around me have changed. It’s hard to deal with."
The former contestant wouldn't name his boyfriend but did say, "We’ve been together for three years. The tour and everything else is only to make a better life for us. I’ve tried to say that to my partner – I’m not just doing this for me. I was always unhappy when I was doing my call centre job, just sitting at my desk.
"I didn’t speak about my love life because I didn’t want my partner to be dragged through this. It wasn’t to gain votes or anything like that."
Maloney with fellow contesants Jahmene Douglas and winner James Arthur
Maloney finished by admitting that he'd had a breakdown after the show, due to the amount of abuse and death threats he had suffered from throughout the series.
"Yes, I had a breakdown," he said. "I went home the Monday after the show finished and a psychologist came to see me. I wasn’t struggling because I was a sore loser, but because of all I’d had to endure. It was hard to keep a grasp of reality."
The Chris Maloney files: an X Factor series worth of gossip
