Jaymi Hensley helped George Shelley come out.
The 25-year-old singer has revealed that when he was part of boy band Union J he was worried about revealing he was gay, but his already out bandmate took him under his wing because although "it was an unsaid thing" Jaymi knew George was also homosexual.
In an interview with Gay Times magazine, George said: "I was worried, but I think the negative chatter in my head and the things that were convincing me that it was a bad decision were the outside voices manifesting in my head.
"He [Jaymi] knew. It was an unsaid thing. It wasn’t until later on in our career – the back end of it. People knew, and then I started going out Jaymi would take me to these clubs and people would see me with these guys."
The ‘Loving You Is Easy’ hitmaker also revealed that one of the reasons he felt uncomfortable coming out was because he didn’t want to "jeopardise" his career as union J’s music was largely aimed at young girls.
He said: "I’d be kissing these guys on nights out like any other 20-year-old would do when you’re experimenting, and that’s absolutely OK. But because of the situation I was in – in the public eye selling records aimed at young girls – I feel like I was made to believe, and made to think, because of these things I was told and the way I was conditioned, that it would’ve jeopardised the band’s career. And in turn jeopardise my own."