The winner of British talent show The X Factor has revealed he is gay, after Twitter hackers broke into his account and outed him as a joke.
Joe McElderry won the sixth series of the hugely popular reality TV show last December, then hit number one on the UK and Irish charts with single The Climb.
The 19-year-old's Twitter account was broken into and the hackers posted messages such as "it's been difficult living a lie for so many years".
McElderry has toldThe Sun he was initially angry, "But after a while I looked at the message and thought, 'Well, they're not that far from the truth'.
"I think the Twitter thing was the point when I realised I was gay. I just looked at it and thought, 'Should I be more bothered about this'?"
McElderry has told The Sun X Factor's Simon Cowell called and offered his support as soon as he told his record bosses he was gay.
"He said, 'Hi, it's Simon. You know, I 100 percent agree with what you are doing. It's fantastic. I am here at the end of the phone if you need any support and we are thrilled for what you're doing'.
The teenager says the issue of his sexuality only recently entered his thoughts. "It's only been on my mind for the last couple of weeks. That's it - God's honest truth."
He has told his family and says he is happy being single, for now. "I don't feel like I need to get into a relationship just for the sake of it."
