Who is Sanjaya Malakar? American Idol alum comes out as bisexual

American Idol alum Sanjaya Malakar has come out as bisexual. The singer appeared in season 6 of the singing competition in 2007 and was not aware of his sexuality then.

The 32-year-old singer appeared on The Adam Sank Show, a DNR Studios podcast, on Monday, August 22, to chat about his time on season 6 of the reality singing competition show as well as about his sexuality. He said:

"I identify as bisexual. At the time [that I was on American Idol], I did not know, which was why it was so weird for me."

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American Idol alum Sanjaya Malakar opens up about his sexuality

During his stint on American Idol, Sanjaya was in a long-term relationship with a girlfriend. He said:

"I was exploring my life as a child, and then American Idol happened, and everyone was like, "Oh, he's gay." And I was like, "OK, well now I have to say no, because at this point they're forcing me to make a decision and define myself."'

On the podcast, Sanjaya said that he was "raised by women" and eventually got involved with theater where he initially had a “hard time figuring out how to interact with young boys” but had no hesitation in talking with other kids. He said:

"I always got along with theater kids. I always got along with gay kids and girls, so I was like, 'OK, these are my people.'But I don't know. Everyone keeps telling me that I am gay, and I'm like, 7. I don't even have any attraction to anyone, so why are you telling me this?"

Although, he feels comfortable about his sexuality today, he is yet to come out to his parents as his “family's not the kind of people I really need to come out to formally."

Sanjaya is currently “single, but it's complicated all the time."

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All about American Idol alum Sanjaya Malakar

Sanjaya Malakar, the finalist of American Idol Season 6, was born in Seattle, Washington. He is the son of Vasudeva Malakar, a Bengali Indian immigrant born in Vrindavan, who emigrated to the US and Italian American mother Jillian Recchi Blyth. However, his parents divorced when he was three years old. He has spent the majority of his formative years in the Seattle area.

After his sophomore year at Todd Beamer High School in Washington, Sanjaya passed the General Educational Development test to focus on his music career and participate in American Idol.

On September 19, 2006, Sanjaya auditioned for season 6 of the competition. He sang, Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours by Stevie Wonder and got three “yes” from the judges.

Sanjaya was just 17 when he auditioned with his sister Shyamali. He was famous on the show for his outrageous hairstyle and despite judge Simon Cowell criticizing his vocals as 'utterly horrendous,' he made it to the show's top list.

He was even very popular with viewers as they continuously saved him from elimination via votes. But he was eventually eliminated from the top seven, after performing on songs such as No Doubt's Bathwater, Irving Berlin's Cheek to Cheek and Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's Ain't No Mountain High Enough.

After the singing competition, he appeared as a guest on multiple television shows, including Good Morning America, The Today Show, Live with Regis and Kelly and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, among others.

The former singer Sanjaya now works as a bartender and pastry chef, but has released an album on Bandcamp and the single Fragile in 2020, among others.