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"X Factor contestant Jaymi Hensley has revealed that he is gay. The Union J band member said that his mentor on the show, Louis Walsh, encouraged him to come out.  JJ, Josh, Jaymi and George &amp;quot;I spoke to Louis about this, and he said, &amp;#039;Put it this way, both of my big boybands [Boyzone and Westlife] had a gay member in them&amp;#039;. So he said it fits the formula quite well!&amp;quot; Hensley told The Sun. &amp;quot;Every boyband has got to have a gay one! And Louis just said &amp;#039;do it&amp;#039;. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m gay and I&amp;#039;ve never been happier!&amp;quot;  Hensley said that his Union J bandmates have known about his sexuality since the group was formed. &amp;quot;They have always supported me with doing this,&amp;quot; he explained. &amp;quot;I didn&amp;#039;t want to do it in five years&amp;#039; time when I have made money and had a career. I don&amp;#039;t think anyone should have to hide who they are. &amp;quot;Not enough people in the music industry are open about their sexuality.&amp;quot;  JJ, George, Josh and Jaymi The 22-year-old also revealed that he has been in a relationship with his boyfriend for three years. &amp;quot;I came on to the show not wanting to be judged for my personal life. But people have caught wind of it and I just wanted to set the record straight,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;It is not a big thing for me. I came out when I was 14 to my family and friends and never had one piece of negativity... There could be negative people, but they are just sad and stuck 20 years ago.&amp;quot; He continued: &amp;quot;I hope the reaction will hopefully be: &amp;#039;OK, we kind of knew, but well done on coming out.&amp;#039;&amp;quot; Hensley admitted that he was slightly concerned people would think his decision was a cry for attention, especially since a number of openly gay acts entered the show. &amp;quot;I don&amp;#039;t want people to think I have hidden this to gain votes because I am so proud of who I am,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;I hope people respect me for being honest.&amp;quot;  The singer from Luton said that by coming out publicly, he hopes to inspire others who are struggling with their sexuality. &amp;quot;I got a tweet from a boy who must have been 13 or 14 asking if the rumours that I was gay were true,&amp;quot; he said.  &amp;quot;He said he really wished I could be out because he didn&amp;#039;t have anyone to look up to and was finding it really hard to fit in and tell his parents. &amp;quot;I was that kid at 14 and really wish I had someone to say it was OK to be pictured on the red carpet with a guy and be gay in a boyband. &amp;quot;[Will Young and Joe McElderry] have been an inspiration and hopefully I can be one too. If I can help just one kid out there, that is enough for me. &amp;quot;The X Factor is such a great show to show that - you&amp;#039;ve got such a great range of characters, especially Rylan who is so open. It was like if he can do it, why can&amp;#039;t I? &amp;quot;But I&amp;#039;m not going to suddenly come out and do a flamboyant performance. That&amp;#039;s Rylan&amp;#039;s bag!&amp;quot; The X Factor continues tonight (November 18) at 8pm on ITV1. Photo gallery - The X Factor Guilty Pleasures week:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/the-x-factor/news/a438983/union-js-jaymi-hensley-im-gay-and-ive-never-been-happier/>