As the old adage goes, "It is never too late to be what you might have been," and when it comes to coming out, that's certainly the case. Whether you're a middle schooler or an octogenarian, there's no bad time to start living your authentic life, as proved by these celebrities who came out well past their twenties.
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However, it should be noted that coming out is a process, and so while these LGBTQ+ celebrities came out publicly as grown adults, many of them came out to friends and family members when they were younger.
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But the point still stands, no matter how many years you've been in the closet, there's always still time to come out. Here are a few celebs who shared their sexuality with the world when they were 35+.
1. In 2012, at 45 and well into his career, Anderson Cooper published a letter in The Daily Beast coming out. In the note, Cooper wrote, "I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."
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Earlier in the piece, the CNN anchor outlined his reason for the announcement, saying, "It's become clear to me that by remaining silent on certain aspects of my personal life for so long, I have given some the mistaken impression that I am trying to hide something—something that makes me uncomfortable, ashamed, or even afraid. This is simply not true."
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2. Pitch Perfect star Anna Camp was 42 when she revealed she was dating Jade Whipkey during a TikTok interview in 2025. Camp, who had previously been married to two men, officially came out as bisexual the following year.
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Interestingly enough, Manilow's longtime friend Suzanne Somers inadvertently outed him two years prior when she mentioned attending his 2014 wedding on Watch What Happens Live.
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4. Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon was 37 when she started dating a woman and publicly came out in 2004. Nixon, who had previously dated men, later identified herself as bisexual and queer.
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When Nixon and her now wife, Christine Marinoni, originally started dating, her publicist at the time told her to keep the relationship private. After several months, however, Nixon fired the publicist and confirmed the relationship.
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https://theweek.com/articles/494203/how-cynthia-nixon-came
5. In 2005 when Star Trek actor George Takei, then 68, publicly came out, he'd already been living an openly gay life for years. Coming out officially in the wake of Arnold Schwarzenegger's veto of California's same-sex marriage legislation, Takei said, "It's not really coming out, which suggests opening a door and stepping through. It's more like a long, long walk through what began as a narrow corridor that starts to widen."
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Takei and his longtime partner, Brad Altman, were the first same-sex couple to apply for a marriage license in West Hollywood in 2008 when California first started issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.
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7. Nailing down exactly when Oscar winner Jodie Foster publicly came out is a bit tricky, given that the star was plagued by rumors since the 1990s. However, in a 2007 speech at The Hollywood Reporter's "Women in Entertainment" breakfast, Foster, then 44, acknowledged her 14-year-long relationship with Cydney Bernard, with whom she shares two children.
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After a confusing 2013 Golden Globes speech in which Foster talked around her sexuality (and which was spoofed by SNL), Foster legally married Alexandra Hedison in 2014, putting all rumors to bed.
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8. While Broadway legend and Cabaret star Joel Gray was married to a woman for over 20 years, he came out as a gay man in a 2015 interview with People. At the time, he was 82 years old, proving that you can come out at any age.
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9. Hollywood directors and sisters, Lana and Lilly Wachowski, both came out as transgender in the 2010s. Lana transitioned publicly first, adopting the name Lana in 2010 at 44. Her sister, announced her own transition in 2016, when she was 48 years old.
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10. Niecy Nash-Betts was 50 when she married singer Jessica Betts in 2020. Nash-Betts had been married twice to men before she began dating her now-wife, and chooses not to label her sexuality.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 10: Niecy Nash-Betts attends the 11th Hollywood Beauty Awards at Taglyan Complex on April 10, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Monica Schipper/Getty Images)
11. While Queen Latifah chose not to publicly comment on her sexuality for years, in 2021, while accepting her lifetime achievement award at the BET Awards, the actor and musician shouted out her longtime partner and son. Then 51, Latifah ended her speech by saying, "Happy Pride!"
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12. In 2022, another Pitch Perfect star, Rebel Wilson, then 42, came out publicly on Instagram to preempt being outed by an article in The Sydney Morning Herald. Speaking of her now-wife, Ramona Agruma, Wilson wrote "I thought I was searching for a Disney Prince… but maybe what I really needed all this time was a Disney Princess."
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13. Good Morning America anchor, Robin Roberts was 52 in 2013, when she used a Facebook post to publicly announce her long-term relationship with a woman. "I am grateful for my entire family, my long time girlfriend, Amber [Laign], and friends as we prepare to celebrate a glorious new year together," Roberts wrote a decade before she and Laign would tie the knot in 2023.
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14. Rosie O'Donnell became one of the first high-profile out lesbians when she came out during a comedy set in 2002 at 39. Having recently wrapped her talk show, O'Donnell decided to come out to support same-sex adoption efforts. She inadvertently paved the way for many of the other celebrities on this list.
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15. "I guess I’m one of those late-in-life lesbians," SNL alum Sasheer Zamata told Them in 2024 at age 37. While many gay people do realize they're gay at a young age, it does take others a longer time to come out to themselves, even before announcing their sexuality to the world.
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16. What Not To Wear host Stacy London was nearly 50 when she publicly announced that she was dating her "hot butch girlfriend" in 2019. The style icon later identified herself as a lesbian, making both halves of What Not To Wear 100% queer.
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17. Titanic and Alias star Victor Garber has been in a relationship with his now-husband Rainer Andreesen since 2000. However, the actor only came out publicly in 2012, saying that "everybody knows" about his sexuality, even though he hadn't confirmed it in the press. He was 62 at the time, and three years later announced that he'd married Andreesen.
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18. Comedy legend Wanda Sykes publicly came out at a political rally in 2008 when she was 43. Sykes, however, had only come out to her parents three years prior, leading to a period of estrangement. While her parents had attended her first wedding to a man in 1991, they refused to attend her 2008 wedding to a woman, but they've since reconciled.
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19. And finally, Wayne Brady, who has twice been married to a woman, came out as pansexual in 2023 at the age of 50. In an interview with People, the host and actor cheekily described his sexuality as "bisexual — with an open mind."
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