Luke Evans was terrified of coming out to his parents

Luke Evans was "terrified" of coming out to his parents.

The 43-year-old actor was worried telling his mum and dad he was gay would "damage [the] connection" he had with them, but though it was a "difficult" time, he was relieved at how accepting his family were.

He admitted: "Coming out is a scary thing. I didn't know one gay person when I was growing up. At 16, 17, the thought of telling the two people you love something that could damage your connection with them is terrifying.

"But my parents were able to understand that this was who I was; I couldn't really change who I was and they accepted that. It was very difficult, but we got through it."

The Nine Perfect Strangers actor has found seeing a therapist over the last decade very beneficial because he was too busy to process everything that was going on in his life.

He told The Times magazine: "Therapy got me to process an awful lot of things. It took me a while to go but it's something that I have benefited from over the past ten years. My workload is very large and I travel a lot.

"I wasn't processing because I was so busy. I detach from my real life very often. It took me a moment to breathe and to speak to somebody I can open up to."

And Luke also uses meditation to release his anxiety and stress.

He explained: "Meditation has really helped me. Not in a deep, 'living on a mountain with wind chimes' kind of way.

"I use the apps and just do it in my bedroom, on my sofa, in a dressing room, for half an hour. Breathing is an incredible way of staying calm and releasing anxiety. I don't panic about next week, next month. I deal with today."

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