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Golda Rosheuvel has opened up about the moment she “discovered” she was gay.
The Bridgerton actor, 54, recently appeared on an episode of Cush Jumbo’s podcast Origins, where she spoke about her first relationship with a woman. When asked by the Good Wife star if “women were throwing themselves” at Rosheuvel during her school days, the Queen Charlotte actor admitted that she didn’t come to terms with her sexuality until much later.
“I only kind of discovered my sexuality when I went to drama school,” Rosheuvel said during the September 3 episode. “I had a boyfriend and we held hands and it was great. He’s now gay… I’m sure he is still,” she jokingly added.
Rosheuvel went on to explain that she learned she was attracted to women when she was touring in a musical production of Hair. “I went on tour with Hair the musical, that was my first job. I fell in love with a woman who was touring in another production,” she told Jumbo.
“We met in this random German town and all the two productions got together. And I remember going, ‘Oh, hello.’ And again, I think we held hands and, you know, spoke and chatted, and then we tried to have this long-distance relationship. She was American and tried to have this long-distance relationship.”
As for how Rosheuvel’s parents reacted to her coming out as gay, the actor admitted that they couldn’t have been more supportive of her – despite her father being an Anglican priest and her parents meeting at a Christian choir. “I told my parents, they were cool. I told my brother in LA. He was like, ‘Let’s cook some food,’” she said, describing her family’s nonchalant reaction.
As Jumbo pointed out that “on paper” it seemed like they wouldn’t be supportive, due to their religious background, Rosheuvel took the opportunity to gush over her parents.
“Because my parents were just wonderful people of the world, Cush, do you know what I mean? Me being gay was just, you know, my mom, of course, they’re your parents,” RosheuvelI said. “She was like, ‘Oh, you know, I’m a bit worried,’ but because they want the best for you, do you know what I mean?”
Rosheuvel – who was born in Guyana and later moved to the UK – has been in a relationship with her partner, playwright Shireen Mula, for more than a decade. In a 2022 interview with The Guardian, Rosheuvel revealed that she and Mula met “the old-fashioned way – at a mate’s party” in the early 2010s.
The actor has also described her partner as “invaluable” throughout her rise to fame, ever since the Netflix period drama series debuted in 2020. “The [Bridgerton] attention has been a big adjustment and it’s great to have somebody there who can hold you in the moments you find difficult and help you navigate the ups and downs,” Rosheuvel told Tatler.
While appearing on the Just for Variety podcast in 2022, Rosheuvel revealed that she was advised not to come out as gay by a lesbian director early in her career – but that she is “out and proud” now. As for whether the pair had plans to tie the knot, Rosheuvel said at the time: “We’ll see, we’ll see. I mean, you know, I don’t see myself with any other person.”
The pair were reportedly married in a “low-key” ceremony last May, sources told The Mirror.
