Shawn Mendes on His Sexuality: “I’m Just Figuring It Out”

Shawn Mendes has quite the dating history.

The singer has been linked in the past to Hailey Baldwin, Sabrina Carpenter and Camila Cabello.

As time has gone on, however, fans have started to speculate over the artist’s sexuality… wondering, simply put, if Shawn Mendes is gay.

Shawn Mendes performs on Mundo Stage as part of the Rock In Rio Festival at Cidade do Rock on September 23, 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Wagner Meier/Getty Images)

Such chatter has grown so loud that Mendes touched on this very personality subject Monday night when performed his new album, Shawn, during an small concert at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado.

“The real truth about my life and my sexuality is, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone. I don’t really know sometimes and I know other times,” Mendes said.

“It feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that. I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to just be human and feel things.

“That’s all I wanna say about that for now.”

Shawn Mendes attends the 2024 MTV Video Music Awards at UBS Arena on September 11, 2024 in Elmont, New York. (Photo by Mike Coppola/Getty Images for MTV)

Many kudos to Mendes for being so candid.

He also opened up about folks talking about his sexuality since he was “really young,” explaining on stage:

“I think it’s kind of silly because I think sexuality is a beautifully complex thing and it’s so hard to just put into boxes.

“It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me. Something I was figuring out in myself. Something I had yet to discover and still have yet to discover.”

Shawn Mendes poses as David Yurman hosts event with Shawn Mendes in support of the Shawn Mendes Foundation at David Yurman on November 15, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for David Yurman)

Mendes was previously caught up in an alleged love triangle between himself, Carpenter and Cabello.

In new track “The Mountain,” however, Mendes delves into his sexual preferences… and how people have been so curious about it for so long.

“Writing this song felt really important to me. It felt like a moment where I could address it in a way that felt close to my heart,” he said on October 28. “I’m just speaking freely now because I want to be closer to everyone and be in my truth.”

Mendes had formerly spoken out about the stress of dealing with rumors about his sexuality.

“In the back of my heart, I feel like I need to go be seen with someone — like a girl — in public, to prove to people that I’m not gay,” he told Rolling Stone back in 2018. “Even though in my heart I know that it’s not a bad thing. There’s still a piece of me that thinks that. And I hate that side of me.”