Sasha Mallory Didn’t Reveal She Was A Lesbian on SYTYCD (So What)

Ugh. This  issue around whether reality show contestants should come out as gay or not when competing has turned into a bit of a brouhaha. In a recent interview with After Ellen, So You Think You Can Dance runner up, Sasha Mallory talks openly about being a lesbian, and why she did not come out on the show:

AE: Have you heard about the recent brouhaha about people being out on reality shows like American Idol and The Voice?
SM:
Yeah.

AE: What was your experience on So You Think You Can Dance like since you didn’t put your personal life out there?
SM: It’s not important for America to know that personal side of me. They just needed to know if I could dance and if I had a personality. They didn’t really need to know if I was gay or straight. Who I’m sleeping with is not important. This is my craft, my art, it’s what I do and who I sleep with doesn’t really change that, I don’t think. I’m not afraid to tell people I’m gay. I’m proud all over the place. Ask anyone! [laughs] It’s just something that never needed to come up because it would just take the focus off of my dancing and it will put it into “I’m gay, ” ya know? But I’m happy to talk about it. I’m totally open about it and I’m a very open person.

AE: Also, you would think in the field of dance, it’s a pretty common thing to have a lot of gay dancers, right? It just comes with the territory.
SM: It’s a lot more on the male side than the female side in dance. I actually haven’t been around a lot of girls that are gay in dance. Well, actually, I might have but maybe I didn’t notice. I used to have a really bad gaydar but it’s gotten a lot better. [laughs] It’s a lot better now but I don’t even think about being gay or straight or anything. I just think about being with whoever makes me happy. I’m attracted to girls and that’s what’s going to make me happy. I don’t even like to label myself. I’ve flirted with guys before and I’ve done stuff with guys before. I’ve actually had two boyfriends but I know at the end of the day who I want to come home to and it’s going to be a girl. That’s what I like.

As a straight person, I can’t imagine what it would be like to have people dissecting your sexuality in the press.  One of the main reasons why I and other bloggers are even posting on the subject, is because we know there are a ton of searches on google right now for “Sasha Mallory Lesbian”.   In a perfect world, who somebody sleeps with wouldn’t be such a big damn deal.

Honestly, I look forward to the day when a person’s sexuality is considered as interesting as whether they have blue or brown eyes.  But until then, when there’s so much at stake, I can hardly blame a reality show contestant for not discussing who they sleep with while they compete.

Adam Lambert never said the words “I’m gay” during his run on American Idol, and I’m still not convinced why that would have been necessary. He certainly never pretended to be something he was not, nor hid who he was. If he had come out on the show, the media frenzy about his sexuality would have been even more ridiculous than it already was.

Sure, straight contestants talk about their spouses and significant others. But even heterosexual competitors make decisions about how much of their private life to reveal for the sake of the game. How about the hearthrob who decides to downplay the fact that he’s got a girlfriend so as not to wreck the fantasies of the fan girls? There are some contestants who want to protect their families from scrutiny. Hey, did you know Naima Adedapo is married and has a family? Bet your average Idol watcher barely knew that, because she hardly talked about it. Reality show editing is equal opportunity, people.

So yeah. Sasha? You go with your bad self.  You’ll get no guff from me.

About mj santilli 34812 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!