Stephen Fry left ’embarrassed and awkward’ after ‘eye-watering’ grilling about his sexual preferences in TV interview ‘worse than the Celebrity Traitors roundtable’
Stephen Fry’s Embarrassment Over Sexual Preferences in ITV Interview Outweighs Celebrity Traitors Experience
Stephen Fry confessed to feeling ’embarrassed and awkward’ after enduring an ‘eye-watering’ interrogation about his sexual inclinations during an ITV interview with The Assembly.
“The audience’s relentless questioning on The Assembly was more intense than the Celeb Traitors roundtable,” the host quipped, noting the program features interviewers with autism, neurodivergence, or learning disabilities.
Stephen, 68, who participated in the initial run of the BBC’s Traitors spin-off last year, is set to become the first celebrity to face The Assembly’s unique format.
During the session, he disclosed that one curious viewer was quick to probe his sexuality, highlighting that his public revelation as a gay man in the late 1980s and his 2015 marriage to Elliott Spencer had not prepared him for such scrutiny.
The broadcaster has long been open about his sexuality, sharing in 2024 that his teenage years as a gay man were marked by a ‘horror within’ and a sense of rejection, despite his eventual acceptance.
“Stephen remarked on the most unsettling inquiry during the interview, ‘The intense curiosity surrounding my sexual inclinations was quite eye-watering.’
In a recent interview with The Times, Stephen acknowledged that being gay once felt like a ‘horror inside him’ and he experienced ‘rejection’ from others.
He recounted that in the 1980s, he was dubbed ‘Celibate Stephen’ due to his friends’ teasing about his ‘celibacy’ while concealing his sexuality, attributing it to his passion for work and the fear of being judged.
Stephen noted that while his sexuality brought years of hardship, it also provided an ‘education in literature’ and a deeper understanding of his identity by the age of 13, when he viewed it as a ‘secret horror’ swelling within him.
“Oscar Wilde had taught me that life would involve mockery, exile, and secrecy, yet writers like EM Forster or Somerset Maugham inspired me to see it as a path of dignity and resilience in the face of a dark world.”
In January, the QI host shared a heartfelt Instagram post commemorating their 10th wedding anniversary, expressing deep affection for his spouse.
Stephen also revealed his desire to not live beyond 100, fearing the loneliness of an extended life without his loved ones, stating that seeing a world without his family and friends would be ‘deeply upsetting’.
A Contrast Between Interview Formats
When comparing the ITV experience to the Traitors roundtable, Stephen joked that the grilling was worse, emphasizing the emotional weight of the moment.
“[I was] as embarrassed, awkward and uncoordinated as I always feel when dancing.”
He continued: “The Assembly just pips it. The Traitors roundtable sees the possibility of mistakenly naysaying, or of being punished, but within a game. The Assembly puts one under a microscope for real.”
Reflecting on the difference between the interview and his usual interactions, he added: “The frankness, the openness, the genuine curiosity. These are not things one is used to in the normal run of journalistic inquisition. It kept me on my toes as much as I expected. But it was also friendlier and more fun than I had feared…”
Stephen’s admission of feeling ‘a horror inside him’ during his youth underscores the lasting impact of societal attitudes, even as he embraces his identity today.
