MasterChef’s Brendan Pang comes out as gay: Fan favourite cuddles up to his boyfriend after revealing he ‘struggled with his sense of identity’
Brendan Pang’s return to the MasterChef kitchen has left him feeling homesick.
After relocating to Melbourne to film the show in January, the 27-year-old recently revealed he was missing his boyfriend, Nick Fimognari, who is back home in Perth.
The fan favourite publicly came out as gay in June 2019, around the same time he debuted his relationship with Nick.
Distance: MasterChef’s Brendan Pang (L) has revealed that filming the show in Melbourne this year has left him homesick and missing boyfriend Nick Fimognari (R), who’s back in Perth
‘Missing a lot today,’ Brendan wrote on Instagram on April 19, alongside a throwback photo of himself cuddling up to Nick.
Before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March, Nick would make regular trips from Melbourne to Perth to be with Brendan on his days off from filming.
The pair shared a post-Valentine’s Day selfie on the Great Ocean Road on February 16, which Brendan captioned with a heart emoji.
‘Missing a lot today,’ wrote Brendan to Instagram on April 19, sharing a throwback picture cuddling up to Nick, as he continued filming in Melbourne alone
Supportive: Before COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March, Nick would make trips from Western Australia to Victoria to be with Brendan on his days off from filming
Brendan came out as gay in an emotional Facebook post last year.
‘My name is Brendan Pang and I’m 26 years old… but, for as long as I can remember and up until the age of 24 I struggled with my sense of identity,’ he wrote.
‘As a gay male, I had feelings of being “different” very early on, and as I navigated the bumpy road into adulthood, I went through some pretty dark times from feeling pressured to change who I was, to experiencing high levels of social anxiety.
‘Thankfully, with the help of a strong and supportive network (my family and friends), I was able to not only survive the complexity of mental health, but thrive and become a stronger, happier, comfortable and proud ME.’
Sweet: The pair shared a cosy post-Valentine’s Day selfie on the Great Ocean Road on Sunday February 16. Brendan captioned the photograph with a heart emoji
‘I struggled with my sense of identity’: The fan favourite came out as gay to fans in June 2019, around the same time he went public with his picture-perfect relationship with Nick
Brendan shared his story to inspire any fans struggling with their own identity.
He hoped to raise awareness of the Telethon Kids Institute’s Embrace program, WA’s first research centre devoted to the mental health of children and young people.
‘We are still losing too many young people to suicide, 1 in 5 teens say they have high levels of distress. 1 in 12 Australian young people aged 12-17 have self-harmed,’ he continued.
‘We are still losing too many young people to suicide’: Brendan shared his story to inspire any fans struggling with their own identity, highlighting a mental health organisation in WA