New Kids on the Block’s Jonathan Knight reveals he had to hide his sexuality early on in the band

Jonathan Knight he was only 16 when he joined the group New Kids on the Block and, after becoming a public figure, he had to hide his own sexuality from the public. That’s what he revealed in a recent podcast interview. frosted tips (via CNN), stating that, since the beginning of the North American band, his manager asked him to keep the theme a secret.

Today at the age of 54, jonathan was part of the iconic boyband formed in 1986 alongside his brother, Jordan Knightand the musicians Joe McIntyre, Donnie Wahlberg and Danny Wood. And it was precisely at the time of the creation of the group that the young singer had to start hiding from the world that he was gay.

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“[Nosso empresário] pulled me aside and said ‘if anyone finds out, your career is over, the career of New Kids it’s over, Sony will lose money”, recalled jonathanin an interview with Lance Bassformer member of NSYNCon the podcast frosted tips. “It was a lot of pressure. Looking back, that’s a lot of pressure for someone who’s just trying to figure out the world on his own.”

jonathan was the first member of New Kids on the Block to leave the group in 1994 — the same year the boy band broke up. “Pop music wasn’t what it used to be, and you know we went from the arenas to the theaters and eventually I left the New Kids”, he recalled, still in the interview.

there were some reasons [para minha decisão]. Number one, being a young gay man, I was frustrated and wanted to get on with my own life. The other reason? It felt like I wasn’t going anywhere and I just wanted to be home.”

After the band broke up in the 1990s, members of New Kids on the Block they sang together again in 2008. And, even older, jonathan I still couldn’t let go of the secrets. “Even when we got back together, I still didn’t ‘come out’ publicly. It was a boyfriend of mine who sold our pictures to the National Enquirer [que fez tudo vir à tona]”, commented the singer.

As a result, the process of assuming one’s own sexuality ended up becoming “horrible” for jonathan. Still, he praises how issues like this are very different today. “Even the way people come out now has changed,” he commented. “People can be receiving an award and they’ll just say ‘I’d like to thank my husband, blah, blah, blah…’ and no one will hesitate.”

The most reserved among the members of the New Kids, jonathan even talked about some of the relationships he maintained during his time in the band, such as with the singers Tiffany and Debbie Gibson, but never revealed details of her love life. Was Tiffanyincluding who accidentally revealed that the singer was gay, in an interview with the Whatch What Happens Live program, in 2011.

In season, jonathan ended up taking advantage of the unexpected chance generated by his ex-girlfriend and thus declared his sexuality publicly. Years later, in 2022, the musician revealed that he had married Harley Rodriguezwith whom he had been in a relationship for some time.