George Michael Never Told His Mother He Was Gay

In an interview with ‘Good Morning America’ anchor Chris Cuomo, George Michael discussed the early struggles he had with his sexuality and how his first relationship didn’t happen until he was 27 years old. “I really had not come into my sexuality until I was 24, and six months into it, deep in the throes of love, I lost my partner to HIV and it took about three years to grieve,” he said.

The 45-year-old added that he didn’t tell his mother Lesley - who died in 1997 - he was gay, though he suspected she knew. “I remember her saying to me when I was about 17, ‘It must be so much easier for parents of gay people now.’ And I - I thought - and I didn’t even hear it at the time. I just thought, ‘Whoa, she said the word gay.’ And when I look back, I just thought, ‘Oh, bless her heart. She just wanted me to tell her,'” he said. Read more and watch the interview at ABCNews.go.com.