Flamboyant pop star Mika refuses to discuss his sexuality in public because of "homophobic" bullying in his youth.
The singer has long refused to talk about his private life but recently fuelled speculation he is bisexual in an interview with Gay&Night magazine, telling the publication, "I've never limited who I sleep with... Call me whatever you want. Call me bisexual, if you need a term for me."
Now the Grace Kelly hitmaker has admitted why he's chosen never to divulge the secrets of his sexuality - blaming childhood bullies for destroying his confidence.
He tells Britain's Sunday Mail Seven Days magazine, "As a teenager I got every type of abuse. It was mostly about the way I looked and a lot of it was homophobic. I used to sit in the bath or shower and think, 'Oh God, I'm a weirdo. I'm a freak. How am I going to survive?'
"I thought, 'I'll become an untouchable version of myself, then I'll be able to survive without being treated like s**t for the rest of my life.' I now live my life totally openly and apologetically. But I don't divulge my private life and neither do I believe in labels. I could fall in love with anybody and have done in the past, so I don't operate from a position of fear. So much of what I do is based around identity, sexuality and genderlessness. But I still get a hard time, especially in the U.K."