Staying true to herself, Secret Lives of Mormon Wives castmate Layla Taylor revealed that not only is she bisexual, but she’s also now dating a woman.
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During her recent appearance on the On Purpose With Jay Shetty podcast, Taylor said she didn’t really know how to address her sexuality formally for a long time.
“I’m gay, and I’m bi and date women and men,” she declared.
Taylor further explained why she wasn’t ready to address her feelings until now.
“Growing up, I didn’t fit in for a lot of reasons in my childhood. I grew up in a very predominantly white area, and being a little Black girl,” she explained. “I already stood out so much to my peers and took that on a lot more than I feel like I realized.”
The reality TV star then admitted, “I always had these thoughts, and I kind of laugh about it now because I would be watching shows like Pretty Little Liars and I would watch, like, Shay Mitchell kissing a girl. I was like, ‘Wait, why is that hot?'”
However, Taylor explained she didn’t know what those feelings were because she didn’t have any representation around her that made her think it was all normal.
“It wasn’t necessarily that I had parents — or I was Mormon at one point,” she pointed out. “But I didn’t necessarily have that pressure to not do that. I just didn’t have people around me that modeled that.”
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Continuing to open up about her sexuality, Taylor admitted she didn’t know if her feelings were just a “phase” until she married her now ex-husband, Clayton Wessell.
“I would just kind of underplay it for a long period of my life,” she said. “I just feel like I’m finally in the era that I’m over not being truly myself, and I’m over not showing every part of Layla to the world. I’m very proud now to be out.”
Taylor went on to credit her recent breakup with Mason McWhorter for finally coming out.
“I just feel like I just never was in a place that I feel like I could truly authentically focus on it,” she said. “Honestly, that breakup was like a blessing in disguise because I feel like now I’ve been fully able to just focus on Layla and just focus on who I truly am.”
Regarding her relationship with another woman, Taylor said they formed a connection on social media.
“[Women are] already more emotionally aware about certain things and very patient,” she added. “I feel like at least who I’m talking to right now, she’s just been very understanding and letting me take this at my own pace because it is just still foreign to me and it is so new. [It’s the] level of understanding and just being there for me.”