‘You’ Star Comes out as Bisexual

Shay Mitchell appears to have come out as bisexual. The actress, who has portrayed multiple LGBT characters throughout her career – Emily Fields in Pretty Little Liars and Peach Salinger in Netflix’s You – sparked speculation about her sexuality after she shared a new TikTok video in which she not-so-subtly alluded to being bisexual.

Posted earlier this month, the video showed Mitchell dueting a post. On one side of the screen, a TikToker asked, “If you identify as bisexual… do you own a green velvet couch?” As another TikToker appeared on the screen and showed off her green velvet couch, saying, “I love knowing nothing about my life is original,” Mitchell appeared on the other half of the screen sitting down on her own green velvet couch. While Mitchell didn’t say a word in the clip, which also did not have a caption, the video prompted plenty of comments, with many fans surmising it was Mitchell’s way of coming out as bisexual. In the comments section, one person asked, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying!?!?!” while another person wrote, “Emily was my gay awakening so this just made my day.” A third person couldn’t help but note Mitchell’s history of playing LGBTQ characters, writing, “Emily from PLL, Peach from You…”

@shaymitchell

#duet with @keepitspooky #Stitch

♬ original sound – Kay 🙂

While Mitchell did not directly confirm her sexuality, it is not the first time she has spoken about it. Back in 2017, the actress told Maxim that she’s attracted to all genders, though she prefers not to label her sexuality. Noting that “people always ask me, ‘You play a gay character? Are you gay? Are you straight? Are you this? Are you that,’” Mitchell told the outlet, “Look, Emily doesn’t label herself, and I don’t label myself either. I fall in love with the spirit of somebody. Love is love, and that’s something that I’ll keep saying.” Then in a 2020 discussion alongside PLL co-star Ian Harding, Harding asked Mitchell when she was last attracted to a woman.

“Wow. Every day. For me, it’s never been ‘I need to find a boyfriend, I need to find this,” she said. “I truly feel like I do fall in love with a person. I liked the fact that I played Emily and I liked the fact that I played Peach [Salinger, in You]. I’m honestly more intrigued by women than I am by men.”

Mitchell has not addressed the TikTok video at this time. The actress is currently in a relationship with longtime boyfriend Matte Babel. The couple has been together since 2017 and share two children: Atlas, 2, and Rome, who they welcomed in May 2022.