Alan Carr: The Northampton Resistance

Alan Carr has told how he hung around hair salons to “find gays” when he realised as a teenager that he was homosexual.
The comedian said he felt as if he was the only gay man in Northampton, where he grew up, and went to extreme lengths to seek out others.
“There was no gay outlet. I ended up hanging around hairdressers to see where they went when they clocked off. Then you’d hear about a ‘poetry evening’ so you’d head off there. It was like being in the Resistance, trying to find gays.”

Evening Standard.

• The ever-entertaing chattyman is back on the tellybox from Friday August 30th.

Update: From the full interview in Evening Standard Magazine; "Alan, 37, has been accused, by gay activists, of being too gay; of giving them a bad name; of being misrepresentative.* ‘I think they have a problem with camp,’ he says. ‘I read something the other day saying that all these gays on the telly are too friendly and I thought, Ant and Dec? Davina? Jonathan Ross? Why am I supposed to be an arsehole? If you’re an arsehole, no one will come on your show. So am I meant to appease all the gays? “Oh, he’s being an arsehole — now that’s a proper gay.” Funny is funny. Nice is nice. It’s not about who you’re having sex with — isn’t that what they all bang on about?’

* Eh? Who, professional anti-gay gaybore Andrew Pierce? Hardly a "gay activist" (the journalist's words, not Alan's)...