“Everyone’s been calling me gay since I was 15 years old."

Shawn Mendes has addressed the fact that people are constantly questioning his sexuality. Speaking on Dax Shepard’s podcast, the star spoke about his frustration with comments from the public regarding his sexual orientation. Mendes, who is currently in a relationship with Camilla Cabello, said that his sexuality has been questioned by others since he was in his teens.

I’m so blown away with @shawnmendes. I admire his fight/commitment to living an examined life at such a young age. Can’t wait to lift weights with him :) https://t.co/1Vv8GwtVwj pic.twitter.com/kw8auRmtb3

— dax shepard (@daxshepard) December 14, 2020

He told Dax: “It was so, so frustrating for me because there were some people in my life that I was very, very close to, who were gay and in the closet. and I felt like this real anger for those people." "It’s such a tricky thing. You want to say, ‘I’m not gay but it’d be fine if I was gay – but also there’s nothing wrong with being gay but I’m not.’ You don’t really know how to respond to the situation.” The Canadian singer said he has had to deal with rumours about him being gay since he began his career. “Everyone’s been calling me gay since I was 15 years old,” the star said. “I’m not gay and I’m like, ‘What does that mean?’ "I had these problems with the way my voice sounded. I’m like, ‘How do I sit?’ I’m always first to cross my legs and sit with a position of this feminine style and I really suffered with that shit.” Mendes is currently in a relationship with singer Cabello, and both have been very public with their status on Instagram, posting loved up tributes regularly. He said he thinks it's this type of scrutiny that has people afraid to come out in the first place. “I think a lot of guys go through that and, even worse than that, there are so many guys who are gay and in the closet and must be hearing shit like that and being like, ‘I’m terrified to come out.'”