
Supermodel Tess Holliday has come out as pansexual in a new interview with Nylon magazine, explaining that she feels attracted to people regardless of their sex or gender identity.
Holliday, who has been married to her husband Nick since 2015, says she first said it aloud when she was talking to a man at a bar who asked if she was bisexual.
“I said, ‘Thank you so much for asking. I’ve been thinking a lot about my relationship to my own queerness, and I think the word pansexual speaks to me more than bi does.’ ”
Holliday said that the man then had to clarify: “‘Thank you for telling me about that, but actually, I said, Are you buying?’ ”
Reflecting on that encounter, Holliday told NYLON that coming out brings her “relief.”
“I feel like a lot of stuff in my life now makes sense,” she said. “A lot of the things that I felt when I was younger make sense. A lot of the relationships that I had make sense. I definitely have a sense of relief. I can connect with people on a more intimate level than I was before, because I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not.”
Holliday went on to say that while she is still in a fully monogamous relationship with Nick, she is still open to the idea of being with a woman.
“I might not know, like, what to do. But I feel like I’d figure it out,” she said.
(via People; photo: Avalon)