Actor Jermelle Simon gushes about his "perfect boyfriend" 2 months after coming out

Hollywood, CA USA – March 4, 2023: Jermelle Simon attends the red carpet of the 9th Annual Truth Awards.

Almost two months after coming out as gay in an emotional video, The Upshaws star Jermelle Simon is gushing about how happy he is.

“I found the perfect boyfriend,” he told Out. “I found someone who I have a friendship, a best friend foundation with, and a love I’ve never felt before. Someone who challenged me in the ways I need to be challenged. Someone who literally lights up my entire world. I lucked up. I kind of skipped the line a little bit and I found the perfect guy.”

Simon is dating influencer Obio Jones, and according to Out writer Ty Cole, he is “radiating happiness and pride.”

Simon plays Bernard “Bennie” Upshaw Jr on the Netflix series, which chronicles the lives of a Black working-class family in Indiana. The character came out as gay on the show last year, and Simon came out this year in early October in celebration of National Coming Out Day.

“Happy National Coming Out Day to everyone,” Simon opened his video. “To the ones who feel like now is the time, to the ones who feel like maybe later, to the ones who may never come out.”

“And to myself,” he added. “I want to say to myself, Happy National Coming Out Day. I have decided to embrace myself fully, all the parts of me. I’ve decided to love myself unconditionally. I’ve decided that the one thing that I thought was the biggest curse in my life is actually the biggest blessing I could ever receive.”

“I have decided that I am enough, and I want to thank everyone who has helped me to get to that place where I feel seen, where i feel like I belong, where i feel loved… Thank you for providing a space where I can come on the internet and say, I am a Black gay man.”

Simon told Out he hadn’t been planning his coming out for long when he decided to take the plunge.

“That morning I woke up and I was really heavy for some reason… For a very long time, I hid behind my character. It had been years of suppression, years of hiding, you know? And over time, that weight just starts to take its toll on you.”

He added that he didn’t even know it was National Coming Out Day at first, and when he realized it, he decided it was the perfect time.

“I was like, ‘Ah, this is so of God — this is the moment.’ I didn’t envision ever doing it, especially on National Coming Out Day. I didn’t want it to be cheesy like that, but it just kind of all aligned and it felt like intuitively it just felt right. I thought it was really important to say it, to just honor, like a past version of myself.”

He was sick of “playing this character even outside of the show,” he added, explaining that being in the closet was weighing on his mental health. “There’s so many things to navigate in life, and I think sexuality, especially when you’re hiding it, can take up your entire life. I have a career, I’m a father, I’m in a relationship. I have so many responsibilities, and so many things to do. I needed to free up my mind.”

Asked what he’d tell his younger self, he replied: “Lean into the thing that you fear.”

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Originally published here.