Sir Ian McKellen, 84, splits from 30-year-old boyfriend after whirlwind romance
Sir Ian McKellen, 84, fell head over heels for Oscar Conlon-Morrey, 30, when they worked together in a pantomime in December 2022 - but the pair are said to have split
Sir Ian McKellen, 84, has reportedly split from his boyfriend, 54 years his junior, after a whirlwind romance.
The Lord Of The Rings legend, 84, fell head over heels for Oscar Conlon-Morrey, 30, when they worked together in a pantomime in December 2022. The pantomime saw Ian play Mother Goose, while Oscar, 54 years younger, played his son Jack.
The pair are believed to have quickly fallen in love after working together. Oscar was quick to share the joyous news of his relationship back on New Year's Eve in 2023 when he gushed over his romance with the acting legend.
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"I saw in 2023 at the house of the new love of my life," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. According to insiders at the time of their relationship announcement, Ian was also smitten with the young actor. However, their relationship has reportedly ended with the pair calling it quits on their romance.
According to the MailOnline, Ian's close friends have always doubted that the legendary actor would ever settle down. At the beginning of Ian and Oscar's romance, one well-known actor opened up about the doubts he harboured about Ian's relationship.
"Oscar has been telling friends and family of his big plans with McKellen. He's even said he thinks they'll get engaged," an unnamed actor shared. "McKellen hasn't had a boyfriend in 20 years. He is really not a marriage man."
"He doesn't want a man living in his home. He enjoys having someone when he is on tour. He gets infatuated; then as quickly as he is into them, he's fallen out with them. There is no way when he is out of the bubble of doing this panto that he is going to have this guy with him in East London, rattling around," they added.
This follows Ian's previous revelation about how coming out as gay changed his life for the better. The actor has been open about his sexuality since 1988, but sadly, his parents passed away before he could tell them.
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On The Jonathan Ross Show, the veteran actor revealed that his mother Margery passed away when he was just 12 years old. He also told the host that his father sadly died when he was 22. The X-Men star didn't come out until he was in his 40s, but insisted "it's a different world now".
He explained that as a young man, he risked prosecution if he was openly gay, so he had to hide his true self from everyone, including his parents before they died. However, he praised the current UK laws and says he never stops talking about being gay, joking to the host that he is "making up for lost time".
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