Celebrity Hairstylist Chris Appleton Confirms Lukas Gage Romance: I’m ‘Very Much in Love’

Feeling the love! Chris Appleton has officially confirmed his relationship with Lukas Gage.

“Listen, I’m very happy [and] very much in love,” Appleton, 39, gushed during a Wednesday, March 15, appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show. “I feel very grateful to be able to share my time with someone very special. Love is a really special thing and, I think, meeting someone that you connect with is very special.”

After a photo of the pair flashed on screen, the Color Wow director added: "That's Lukas [when we were] in Mexico."

The You star, 27 and the celebrity hairstylist first sparked romance speculation when they posted pictures while on vacation together at the St. Regis Punta Mita Resort in Mexico.

“La mejor @chrisappleton1 #stregispuntamita @stregispuntamita,” Gage wrote via Instagram on February 20, alongside the getaway pictures, while Appleton captioned his snaps, “Joyride.”

The adventurous images featured the pair riding ATVs and taking a dip in the ocean. Both men sported a pair of sunnies with no shirt for the occasion. Appleton, for his part, wore bright yellow and purple patterned swim trunks accessorized with a gold necklace.

The duo also flirtatiously commented on each other’s respective social media uploads. The White Lotus alum wrote, “Buenas,” while the England native replied, “Stud” — with both adding the heart eyes emoji.

The Angelyne star and Appleton’s loved ones quickly flooded the comments sections to gush over the couple’s romantic respite. “😍😍😍,” Maude Apatow said. Paris Hilton, for her part, echoed the Euphoria star's sentiments with her own “😍.”

Gage has been candid about his sexuality in the past. When a social media troll posted a critique about Hollywood’s pattern of casting heterosexual actors for queer roles in June 2022, Gage quickly fired back.

“If Hollywood can stop hiring non LGBTQIA+ actors like @lukasgage to play LGBTQIA+ characters, that would be great,” the Twitter user wrote at the time. “He has played 4 so far. 1 was enough.”

Gage, meanwhile, responded, “U don’t know my alphabet.” When the original poster encouraged the Queer as Folk alum to “enlighten the whole world” of his sexual identity, Gage replied, “No,” with a red heart emoji.

The Supergirl alum has never publicly specified his sexual identity, but he has played several LGBTQIA+ characters over the years, including Derek on Love, Victor and Logan on Into the Dark. On season 1 of The White Lotus, his character Dillon’s sexuality wasn’t overtly established, but Dillon eventually got intimate with Armond (Murray Bartlett), his boss at the resort.

Gage later revealed that the NSFW scene was partially his idea. “In the script, it was sex,” he recalled during a January 2022 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. “We’ve seen sex on TV. Let’s have some ass eating.”

The Moonshot actor has often made headlines for speaking out about his experience in the entertainment industry. In November 2020, he posted a video of himself in his apartment preparing to read his lines during a virtual audition. A British director, who presumably thought he was on mute, could be heard telling another person on the Zoom call, “These poor people live in these tiny apartments. Like, I’m looking at his background and he’s got his TV, and you know —”

“Ooh,” Gage said to interrupt the director, adding, “Yeah, mute it. I know it’s a s—tty apartment, so give me this job so I can get a better one.”

When the director replied, “Oh, my God. I am so, so sorry,” Gage joked, “Listen, I’m living in a four-by-four box, it’s fine. Just give me the job and we’ll be fine.”

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Following the awkward encounter, the Gossip Girl alum uploaded the clip via social media. “Psa if youre a s–t talking director make sure to mute ur s–t on zoom mtgings [sic],” he captioned the Twitter video.