Celeb Stylist Chris Appleton Was Dad to Two Before Coming Out at 26

Appleton went on to say he is on good terms with his ex, and got tearful when he recalled his watching a video of his first video shoot at which she was present.

"I rang her because she was there, and she was like: 'Oh my god, I remember that photo shoot, I remember going through 10,000 pictures, and it was just incredibly stressful,'" Chris recalled. "And she's like: 'Why are you emotional?' I was like: 'I don't know, I just remember him, I remember that guy.'"

"Like, I was straight; I had two kids; I thought I had it all figured out," he went on. "And she's like: 'You know, it was really hard because I think you had to mourn a part of someone that you had to let go.' She was incredibly supportive of what I felt. I was told as a kid that gay was wrong, and gay men... You know, it's not a good thing. It doesn't fit into the box."

He went on to discuss his two children, 21-year old Billy and 20-year old Kitty, who grew up with his mother in Leicester, England before coming to the United States. ""[Billy and Kitty] moved to LA two years ago, and they've been having a great time," Appleton told Frankel. "Kitty's doing social media stuff now, and Billy's at college, and they're living their best lives. As a dad, I'm so proud that I can just give them opportunities and give them the opportunity to see the world."

But acknowledged he spent the first half of his life unsure of his identity. " "I didn't see myself for 26 years. 26 years of my life, I didn't see myself – I didn't let myself see myself. And it wasn't until someone said to me: 'You're allowed to see yourself, you're allowed to be that person, you don't have to feel guilty,' my whole life literally changed. And I never want to be back in those chains."

In an earlier interview for Gay Times in 2019, conducted by Kim Kardashian West, his most famous client and friend, he was asked why it took so long for him to come out. "Some people know straight away, I didn't and it took me a minute to understand that and accept that and then come out. Everybody has got their stories and some people are ready with it straight away, I just wasn't. I didn't have that realisation. It was also really important to me that the kids were comfortable before I expressed that, and that they understood and were in a good place. It was just time. Everybody has their story and mine was later on."

Check out these pics from Appleton's IG: