Phil Lester Comes Out On Final Day Of Pride Month: “Hopefully My Story Will Help Some Of You”

Roughly two weeks after his frequent creative collaborator Daniel Howell came out as gay in a scorching, 45-minute vlog complete with five different chapters, Phil Lester has taken a decidedly breezier approach to his own coming out video — aptly titled Coming Out To You, which he released yesterday, the final day of Pride Month.

In Howell’s video, he hinted that he and Lester — who have collaborated on mobile games, tours, tour documentaries, and countless YouTube videos — “were more than friends,” given that there has been much feverish speculation about their relationship over the years. But this is Lester’s first proclamation on his sexuality. That’s because his channel — which counts subscribers 4.2 million subscribers — is primarily dedicated to entertaining viewers rather than updating them on his personal life. But “hopefully,” Lester says, “my story will help some of you.”

Lester discovered he was gay at age 12 after seeing a “hot shirtless guy” at the beach, but remained closeted until arriving at college, due to the fact that he grew up in a small, conservative-minded town in the north of England. At college, Lester came out to his roommates — who were understanding, he says. Then one day, a friend from back home spotted him on a gay dating app, and sent a screenshot of his profile to his childhood friends, thus forcing him out of the closet before he was ready. After confirming the news via group chat, Lester says that his friends were very accepting. His family followed suit.

Despite the fact Lester has encountered some older people “who have some totally misguided views,” he says he believes “the world is gradually becoming a better place — and, with that, people are becoming more accepting.”

You can check out Coming Out To You, which has racked up 1.4 million views in less than 24 hours, below: