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Nearly 15 years after he appeared on American Idol Season 6 at the young age of 17, former contestant Sanjaya Malakar opened up about his sexuality on The Adam Sank Show podcast.
“I identify as bisexual,” he said in the interview. “At the time [that I was on American Idol], I did not know, which was why it was so weird for me.”
Despite being popular amongst fans, judge Simon Cowell was quick to critique the former musician, saying his vocals were “utterly horrendous,” per People. Still, he was able to advance to the show’s top 10 before being voted out, a move that dropped the show’s ratings by 9%.
With his success, Malakar also became a punching bag for comedians and many viewers, who poked fun at his ponyhawk hairstyle and eventually began to question his sexuality even though he had a long-term girlfriend at the time. Reflecting on this, he said, “I was exploring my life as a child, and then American Idol happened, and everyone was like, ‘Oh, he’s gay.’ And I was like, ‘OK, well now I have to say no, because at this point they’re forcing me to make a decision and define myself.'”
According to Malakar, his team was not supportive, either, claiming they advised him to “just tell everyone you’re single. Be ambiguous. No one needs to know anything about anything because you don’t want to lose your fans.”
He added, “And I’m like, ‘OK, but why am I manipulating what I know of myself to figure out what kind of fans I’m going to get because I’m still trying to discover who I am?'”
Now, Malakar’s American Idol days are long behind him. He works as a pastry chef as well as a bartender, saying, “For me, at this point I don’t really care about what people know of my sexuality, and if I got into a serious long-term relationship with a guy I would bring him to my family, and they’d be like, ‘Oh, cool.'”
American Idol airs Sunday and Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
