Ahead of the Netflix phenomenon’s premiere, the Emmy-winner realized that she was gay.

Baby Reindeer star Jessica Gunning reveals she was celibate for 36 years before coming out

Ahead of the Netflix phenomenon's premiere, the Emmy-winner realized that she was gay.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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March 23, 2026 1:56 p.m. ET

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Jessica Gunning at the 'Everybody Digs Bill Evans' premiere. Credit:

Dominique Charriau/WireImage

*Baby Reindeer* star Jessica Gunning has opened up about her sexual journey and how she remained celibate until she came out at 36 years old.

The Emmy winner, now 40, previously discussed how it finally "clicked" with her in 2022 that she was gay, and she's now revealing that part of the delay was the fact that she'd "never been in a relationship before. With anyone."

“I felt like I maybe lived vicariously through a lot of [my characters]," she told *The Times* in a recent interview. "I felt very sexual, and I felt very connected to myself, so I was so happy in so many ways. It didn’t feel like I was lonely. I lived with my best mate. I felt fulfilled. So I didn’t feel like I was lacking anything.”

Acknowledging that the one thing she was lacking was sex, Gunning posited that her celibacy might have also been "connected to size."

"Maybe because I was bigger, I’ve always felt like — it’s hard to word this because I don’t want it to seem like I’m saying it in a negative way, because it definitely isn’t, I didn’t feel like an alien in a negative way — but it was like an otherness," she shared. "And the otherness, I suppose, looking back, protects me from having to go, ‘I don’t fancy men.’ So I was just, like, ‘Oh, it’s not the time for me,’ or whatever. And then, before I knew it, I was in my thirties.”

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Jessica Gunning as Martha on 'Baby Reindeer.'.

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Gunning had been working steadily in the U.K. for almost two decades before *Baby Reindeer* catapulted her into the spotlight. The 2024 autobiographical series from Richard Gadd starred him as aspiring comedian Donny, who is coming to terms with his sexuality and traumatic past. At the same time, he suddenly finds himself the target of the affection of a lonely woman named Martha (Gunning), who begins stalking him.

*Baby Reindeer* became a pop culture phenomenon, and Gunning's performance earned critical acclaim, winning her awards at the Emmys and Golden Globes. And so has the success impacted her personal life?

“I wish I had more juicy gossip," she admits. "But since I came out, everything happened with *Baby Reindeer*. So that’s been nuts. I’ve had two [girlfriends.] I suppose I’ve just been focused on work. Hopefully I’m open to it. I’m a big believer in love.”

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