Joshua Bassett Is Open to a Queer 'High School Musical' Storyline

In a new interview with Attitude Magazine, High School Musical: The Musical – The Series star Joshua Bassett opened up about coming out earlier this year.

The 20-year-old actor went viral when he shared his affection for Harry Styles. "He's just cool," said Bassett at the time. "Who doesn't think Harry Styles is cool? Also, he's hot. He's very charming too. Lots of things. I guess this is also my coming out video I guess." 

All things considered, it was a casual moment that reached all corners of the internet. 

"My team were making me aware that [the interview] was blowing up, and they were, like, 'What are we going to do?'" he told Attitude. "I said, 'I’m not worried about it, let’s see what happens… I don’t think I need to say anything about it.'"

At the time, there was a lot of speculation on whether Bassett was actually coming out or if it was just a joke. 

“But it kept going and growing – I was seeing comments and stuff, and I was, like, this is an important opportunity to say something that I’ve wanted to say for a while, but never felt like I had to, and never felt like I could."

The Disney star decided to confirm it with an Instagram post, where he shared he was still figuring out his sexuality.

"I wrote the statement in less than five minutes, and there was no part of me that was anxious, no part of me that was hesitant at all. It felt so right. I put it out and I’ve never looked back. It was liberating, it was freeing; it was nothing like I expected it to be.”

Now, he says he feels free. And while there's some ugliness out there, he's felt so much love and support that he's excited for what's next. He even says he would be “super open” for his HSMTMTS character Ricky to have an LGBTQ+ arc on the series.

“I trust the writers, and I trust Disney to do what’s best, and you know what, I would love that,” he mused. “I’m down for whatever they choose."

Ricky is currently in an on-again-off-again relationship with Nini, played by "driver's license" singer Olivia Rodrigo. "All of that’s out of my control, I don’t have a say in that, but yeah, that would be great.”