Sara Gilbert: I Realized I Was Lesbian After Kissing Johnny Galecki
"So, some of you may know that when I was a teenager, I dated Johnny Galecki for a little while, who played my boyfriend and husband on Roseanne," Gilbert began on 'The Talk'. "And I thought he was super cute and had a total crush on him, and we started dating, and he would come over, and we would make out, and then I would start to get depressed." "Johnny felt badly, I think, and started to take it personally and didn't know what was going on. So I eventually told him that I thought it was about my sexuality and he was super sweet about it." "I started dating a woman who was like 18 years older than I was, who was also in the public eye, and it was something that people could have found out about," she said. "No one knew at the show for years, and Johnny held the secret the whole time." "I just felt like always so scared, if it came out, what could happen. Would I lose my career? Could I ever play a straight role again?" The actress, who's also made several appearances on 'Big Bang Theory' as Leslie Winkle, said when she told Galecki she would be revealing this, he offered to hold her hand while she did it for support. "When I talk about my sexuality on the show or in public, I still feel really scared," Gilbert admitted. "So I'll try to act confident or I'll make jokes about it, but there's still a piece of me that goes, 'Well, what is this costing me in career?' And it's not that I'm not thrilled to be who I am and so grateful to have the life that I have, because I really am." "I want to live a true life... And like I said, I have an amazing life. But I want people to know that there can still be a struggle with it, and that's okay. It really is like a process. There can be a part of you that doesn't want to be different or feel scared. And that is maybe more important than any of it." Sara Gilbert says she first realized she may be lesbian after kissing 'Big Bang Theory' star Johnny Galecki, who was her 'Roseanne' co-star and boyfriend growing up.