With New Book Upcoming, Russell Tovey Reveals He Crushed on Older Actor... and it Showed

Since it first appeared in 2018 the British podcast "Talk Art" has become one of the fastest-growing art-focused podcasts on the internet, reported the New York Times last year. "Since its first episode in October 2018, Talk Art has steadily built up a substantial following, with more than half a million downloads."

Part of the reason could be out actor Russell Tovey's celebrity status. Tovey, who created and co-hosts the show with gallerist Robert Diament, has been a passionate collector since first buying a print by British artist Tracey Emin while he was appearing in "The History Boys" in 2004. Or its success could come from the "unaffected, homespun feel" of its co-hosts. "We're just art geeks and we want to talk to other people about it," he told the Times.

The pair have a book based on their podcast, "Talk Art: Everything You Wanted to Know about Contemporary Art But Were Afraid to Ask," that is due out in May. To promote the book, Tovey was interviewed by the British LGBTQ magazine Attitude, where he touched on his accepting being gay.

"Speaking to the publication on Wednesday, the actor, 39, explained that he was on set of a TV show where he was 'desperately in love' with an older actor, but tried to hide it from his colleagues," wrote the Daily Mail.

"He explained that a female co-star took him to one side as she had realised his feelings for the actor, and asked if he was gay and reassured him it would be 'great' if he was."

"I was doing a TV show and I was desperately in love with this much older actor and had such a crush on him, and I didn't think anyone knew," he told Attitude.

"I thought I was hiding it very well, but I wasn't. This older actress took me for a walk along the beach where it was filming and explained to me that I might be gay." She reassured him that it was fine either way and her words helped with his confusion.

"It's confusing because you're living in a world where you're being told there's nowhere you can look to understand, what are my feelings?

"You feel lost and at that age, to have someone put their hand out and go, 'Come here. This is just me giving a bit of advice.' It stayed with me forever and changed everything," he added.

He also recalled being slammed for being gay at an unlikely place – an exclusive members-only club. "The only place I've experienced some sort of homophobia was once at a Soho House festival.

"Me and my friend Matt Kennard, who is actually straight, were at the bar getting drinks and somebody says, 'Come on, gay boys, hurry up, gay boys.'

"We ended up having a scrap with the guy. It was just like, 'Excuse me? What the f*** is going on? This is f***ing Soho House, of all places!"'

Tovey added: "It was so preposterous and bizarre. It was so odd. Homophobia is so odd. It's just so odd."

Tovey has previously said he came out to himself when he was 15, but only told his family he was gay when he was 18. But it took some time for him to feel comfortable enough being an out celebrity. "(It) kind of brought a spotlight on me. I'm incredibly proud of the position I'm in and who I am," he told Gay Times in 2018.

"I've never shied away from it and for me it's not an issue. People are coming to me with these incredible roles and a lot of the parts I play happen to be kind of, 'Is he gay? Isn't he gay?' – I love it."

Nor was he fearful of being typecast. "Back in the day people were worried about being stereotyped or typecast but it's not like there's just one gay guy to play. There are billions of f****** gay people and their stories haven't been told."

But one thing he wasn't ready for was being called "daddy." "Oh, I don't mean I want someone to call me daddy in a sexual way," he told Gay Times in 2018. "I know that on Instagram people are starting to say, 'Oh daddy!' And I'm a bit like, 'What the fuck!' I still look very boyish to me. I'm 36 now but I still feel like I'm 17."

Tovey's on again/off again relationship with the former adult film star and rugby coach Steve Brockman is back on, the DM added.