Bestselling author Jacqueline Wilson has spoken publicly about being gay for the first time.
Wilson, author of 111 novels including Dustin Baby, The Illustrated Mum and the much-loved Tracy Beaker series, revealed in a new interview that she has been living "very happily" with her partner Trish for the last 18 years.
"I've never really been in any kind of closet," she told The Guardian. "It would be such old news for anybody that has ever known anything much about me. Even the vaguest acquaintance knows perfectly well that we are a couple."
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Wilson, who was made a Dame in 2008 for services to literature, explained that her new book Love Frankie is a gay love story about a girl who falls for a female classmate. She said she knew "perfectly well that it would shine a little light on my own private life".
Wilson was previously married to Millar Wilson, a printer, from 1965 to 2004. They have a daughter, Emma, who is an academic and writer.
Wilson said that when readers have written to her in the past asking why she'd never written a book about being gay, she always replied that she didn’t see "any problem whatsoever with being gay".
Wilson also played down suggestions that she could become a role model to young queer women, saying "I’m sure they could find much more glamorous examples" to be inspired by.
Still, her low-key coming out has been greeted incredibly warmly on Twitter. "Congratulations to Jacqueline Wilson for coming out!" tweeted Refinery29 contributor Sophie Wilkinson. "Growing up I always got a lesbian vibe from her that I found really comforting."
I wrote to Jacqueline Wilson when I was 8 years old and she responded with such a kind and thoughtful postcard that made my year. Her books made me want to be a writer. A national treasure. ✨ https://t.co/NhiZZ1nXDY
— Alice Casely-Hayford (@AlCaselyHayford) April 4, 2020
“I don’t think that girls would ever want a grey-haired, wrinkly writer as a role model if they were wanting to feel good about maybe being gay.” Jacqueline Wilson
— Emma Ward (@Am_Em) April 4, 2020
Well...I disagree. This would have meant a lot to me as a fan of her books as a young teen. I hope others too! 🥰 https://t.co/8bGIb45nm9
Congratulations to Jacqueline Wilson for coming out! Growing up I always got a lesbian vibe from her that I found really comforting https://t.co/dKTlOJPCbQ
— Sophie Wilkinson (@sophwilkinson) April 4, 2020
Wilson's new novel Love Frankie is due to be published on 15th April. Check out Refinery29's guide to the books we'll be reading in April here.