Joshua Bassett Says He 'Wasn't Intending' to Come Out in 2021 but Now Feels 'So Liberated'
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
There's one question that Joshua Bassett makes sure to ask himself on the regular: "Who would you be if you weren't afraid?"
After a difficult year that saw him overcome a near-fatal health crisis, the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series star, 21, is doing everything he can now to live his life authentically, including being open with fans about the abuse he suffered as a child and teen and identifying as a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
"If somebody had talked about all this stuff when I was a kid, it would've made a world of difference," Bassett tells PEOPLE in this week's issue, on newsstands Friday. "Everything I do aligns with what I needed when I was 10."
In May, Bassett shared a note on Instagram coming out after an interview where he called Harry Styles "hot" went viral.
"They kept asking me questions about Harry Styles, and I was like, 'This is pretty much my coming out video,'" he says. "I wasn't intending on saying that, but I also wasn't kidding."
RELATED: Joshua Bassett Is 'Happy to Be a Part of the LGBTQ+ Community' and 'At Peace' with His Sexuality
In the Instagram note he shared afterward, Bassett wrote, "My entire life people have told me my sexuality. People have shamed me for things they know nothing about. I want to say thank you to those of you who stand for love and acceptance."
"Love who you love shamelessly," he continued. "It's OK to still be figuring out who you are. Life's too short to let ignorance and hatred win. I choose love."
Ryan Pfluger Joshua Bassett
Looking back, Bassett — who has decided not to reveal what he classifies as publicly in an effort not to be boxed in — says making that post "was the easiest thing I've ever done."
"I feel so much more liberated," he says. "It showed me how silly it is to hide who you are in order to appease a small group of people. At what cost do you bury your heart and soul?"
Overcoming fear has been a major theme in Bassett's life over the past year. Last January, he found himself at the center of intense public scrutiny when his HSMTMTS costar Olivia Rodrigo released her viral hit "Drivers License."
The song is widely believed to be about their alleged breakup, though neither has ever confirmed a relationship. Bassett says the stress from the hate he received— including death threats on social media — hit him hard. Then he wound up in the hospital battling septic shock and heart failure, which doctors told him could have been caused by stress, for nine days.
"In this last year a lot of my biggest fears came true," he says. "But in that, I found that I'll always be OK, if not better off."
RELATED VIDEO: Joshua Bassett on His Near-Fatal Health Crisis: "I Felt My Heart Failing"
Watch the full episode of People Features: Joshua Bassett on PeopleTV.com or on the PeopleTV app.
In an attempt to take control of his narrative, Bassett dropped a trio of lyrically revealing songs in December: "Crisis," "Secret" and "Set Me Free." On the last he sings, "Tell my mom I'm OK while I'm holding back tears/ It's been a f---ing year."
That same day Bassett revealed in an interview that he had experienced sexual abuse as a child and teen. Bassett hasn't publicly named his abusers but previously said a relative abused him from ages 5 to 9 and that an older man in one of his theater groups abused him when he was a teen.)
"What I realized recently is that the reason why I haven't been able to process so much of it is because I went into pure shock," he says. "I'm still very much in the middle of the whole process, and I think it is a lifelong thing, but I'm learning to peel back the layers."
RELATED: Joshua Bassett Faces Lingering Feelings for an Ex in 'Doppelgänger' Music Video
Bassett hopes that by sharing his story, he can help others.
"It really bothers me that people said, 'Why didn't you do anything about it?'" he says. "When you go into freeze mode, you literally shut down. If I, a person with a platform, got treated like that, what would happen to a person in a small town? I won't shut up about this until we're far past that."
Now Bassett is ready to usher in a new era. He released his latest single, "Doppelgänger," in February. And he hopes to spread a positive message with his new Disney + film Better Nate Than Ever (streaming April 1), about a boy who runs away from home to New York City to pursue his Broadway dreams.
"The movie is about this kid who doesn't fit in to his hometown, so he goes and follows his bliss to where he knows he's going to be celebrated and welcomed, which is New York," Bassett says. "I'm not saying anyone should run away from home to New York, but there's something about the magic in this story about a kid who will not settle for what the world tells him he needs to be. I can resonate with that independence."
RYan Pfluger Joshua Bassett
Although it's been a year of fresh beginnings, Bassett says he's not ready for a new romance quite yet.
"Dating is not on my radar," he says. "I'm working on myself so much, and the place I'm in right now, I really only have energy for myself."
So in lieu of love, it's the little things that make him happiest. "Including eating a donut," he says. "That can be just as satisfying as your wildest dreams coming true. The second you realize every moment is special, you can find ways to be peaceful in every corner of life."
For all the details on Joshua Bassett's story of survival, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
