Derren Brown's love life after trying to 'train himself out of being gay'

12 January 2024 , 19:50

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Derren Brown once attended a religious group meeting to try and 'cure' his homosexuality (Image: Getty)

Derren Brown once tried to 'train himself out of being gay' and went to a religious camp to be 'cured' before turning his back on religion entirely.

The British illusionist, who does not claim to possess any supernatural powers, has been performing for three decades and is a BAFTA award-winning entertainer, performing both on television and on stage. Derren was brought up as a Christian and was sent to Bible classes by his parents from the age of five.

During his teenage years, he became an evangelical Christian and presented himself as asexual, before deciding that he was an atheist in his twenties. At the age of 31, Derren came out as gay and has since spoken openly about his identity crisis and how he tried to 'train himself out of his homosexuality'.

The illusionist was brought up a Christian until he became an atheist in his twenties

He came out in an article in 2007 and found it 'liberating' that people just didn't care (Getty Images)

Derren first confirmed he was gay in an article for The Independent on Sunday in 2007. The following year, he told The Sun: "Coming out when you are in the public eye is one of those things that isn't an issue to yourself, your friends and your family. But you have to be open and upfront. You should always come out; life is so much easier. People generally aren't as bothered by your intimate secrets as you are."

He told family and friends that he was dating a designer named Marc Hagan Guirey, and they stayed together for eight years before they split. In an interview with the Daily Beast in 2017, he said: "As a Christian, it opened up the weird world of them trying to cure you. I didn't go through it, but I skimmed the surface. I had a gay friend who was much more into it." He added: "He's still gay, just more disillusioned with the church. There was never anybody that it actually worked for."

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Speaking about attending one of the cure group's meetings, Derren told the publication it was stormed by LGBT activists. "They're really, really angry about this and I can see why," he said. Fast forward a decade and Derren, 52, has spoken candidly about using his career as a hypnotist to distract people from his sexuality. He told Steven Bartlett on The Diary of a CEO podcast that he was "literally hiding behind a [magic] trick."

He said: "I think magic's very good for that as well, you're creating this bubble around yourself, literally hiding behind a trick and people will look at that trick and go, 'Oh gosh you're amazing'. I think all of that was helpful to me, as somebody that was not 'out' and working all of that stuff out." He added: "The reason why it's [coming out] liberating is that people just don't care. That shameful centre that's there... when you're open about it, why would they care?"

Derren now keeps his love life largely private, though told The Times in 2022 that he had left London for the countryside with his partner and dogs. The magician has had more than a few career highs since becoming a household name with his 2000 series Mind Control. He famously played a game of Russian Roulette on live television, successfully predicted the winning National Lottery numbers and manipulated a group of participants into robbing a security van in daylight.

Nia Dalton