Tulisa comes out on I’m A Celeb – but what is a demisexual?

Demisexual is not to be confused with asexual, but there is crossover


During Tuesday night’s episode of I’m A Celeb, Tulisa came out of the closet as a demisexual, but what is the meaning behind the sexual orientation on everybody’s lips?

For many of us, Tulisa was a familiar face on our TV screens until she disappeared off the map for a life of relative anonymity in Los Angeles. She came back with a vengeance this week in the 2024 I’m A Celeb cast, already gearing up for a fight. Though Tulisa’s somewhat messy dating history is well established, she dished on her relationship troubles in a vulnerable moment on Tuesday.

Tulisa says she might be demisexual

Last night’s I’m A Celeb saw the campmates discussing their dating lives as Dean McCullough admitted to enjoying the single lifestyle. Those feelings were shared by “proper guarded” Tulisa and Alan Halsall, with the latter revealing he’d never been on a dating app.

Though Tulisa said she had spent some time on Raya, the celebrity dating app hiding names like Channing Tatum, Liza Koshy, and Chris Rock, she had “never gone on an actual date with anyone on there.”

She added: “I feel like I’m demisexual, I need to have a really close emotional bond with someone.”

As the world evolves and our understanding of sexuality changes, more and more people are identifying with obscure sexual identities that many of us might be ignorant of.

As per the Cleveland Clinic, demisexuals are “a person [who] feels sexually attracted to someone only after they’ve developed a close emotional bond with them.”

Though some have argued that most of us are demisexuals, as with any sexual orientation, it’s more about individual identities than an umbrella term to be lumped on groups of people. No one is forcing you to identify as a demisexual even if you need that emotional connection first.

The news was received well by viewers on Twitter, as one person said: “Tulisa surprising me a little – I haven’t heard the term demisexual outside of fandom spaces like ever. Good for her!!”

“Tulisa coming out as demisexual on national television.. the mother you are,” another penned, as a third added, “Like I couldn’t adore this f*****g qween more, Tulisa saying she thinks she might be demisexual is EVERYTHING!”

Demisexuals have their own flag, of course

 

As is the case with most sexualities, demisexuals have their own flag that takes into account the many aspects of the niche sexuality.

The purple stripe represents community and diversity within the demisexual group, the white stripe represents the attraction demisexuals feel after a bond is created, the grey represents the grey area demisexual community operates in, and the black is a nod to the asexual community.

The more you know!

Featured Image credit: I’m a Celeb/ITVX

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