“You guys gave me courage”— The Boyfriend star Taeheon opens up about wanting to come out to his parents

The Boyfriend is a Japanese reality dating show, which premiered on July 9 and releases weekly episodes every Tuesday on Netflix. The finale episodes 9 and 10 were released on July 30. The show is currently trending on social media, as it is the first same-sex reality dating show. Additionally, the show features nine contestants from various parts of Japan.

In episode 9 of The Boyfriend, one of the cast members, Taeheon was seen confessing about wanting to come out to his parents. In a conversation with Gensei, on being questioned how he was doing, Taeheon stated:

"Well, the other day, I asked everyone about their coming-out experiences, and you guys gave me courage. But I'm pretty scared about it."

He further revealed that he doesn't know what to do and that he should be telling his parents the truth. Episode 9 of The Boyfriend, titled Accepting You No Matter What, resonates well with the conversation between Gensei and Taeheon.

The finale episodes reveal the contestant's final journeys and who their final choice of partner will be. The cast members making their final choices were Kazuto, Ryota, Dai, Alan, Shun, Gensei, Taeheon, and Ikuo.

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Taeheon's coming-out conversation in the show

The Boyfriend

Taeheon, a 34-year-old web designer from South Korea, recently gained quite a popularity from the show The Boyfriend. Initially, when he came to the show, his following on Instagram was around 2k+; now, within a few weeks, his following has reached 90k+ followers. When asked about why he wanted to participate in the show, he said:

“I was hoping for a nice encounter. It’s very difficult to find a friend, let alone a best friend. Whether I find romance or not, I want to foster a strong connection with all of you.”

During his conversation with Gensei, Taeheon put out the possible reactions from his parents. He revealed that they will be shocked to know that their son is gay and the whole world would now know about it. Furthermore, he shared that he was concerned about what they would think of his confession.

Gensei expressed that this was a good opportunity for him to tell them and questioned him about when he would have told his parents had it not been for the show. To this question, Taeheon shared that he did not have a road map or a specific time planned to tell them, but he wanted to tell them soon.

Gensei then gently nudged him, saying that this would be a good chance and that he was not doing anything wrong. Taeheon felt supported by Gensei's words and he confessed that during his time in the show, he felt like he made real connections with all the cast members and that they have become more than friends who would meet up once in a while. He concluded his conversation by saying:

"I hope that I'll be able to tell them without overthinking it."

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Teoheon emotional confession to the cast members in The Boyfriend

In the finale episode of The Boyfriend, when all the contestants were sitting together and sharing their experiences of the show. Taeheon opened up about his decision to join the show. He shared that it was hard for him to tell his parents that he was attracted to men. He joined this project because he wanted to come out to them.

Additionally, he shared that now that he gained eight new friends, he would be able to go home to see his family and tell them his truth. Everyone got emotional when he expressed his feelings and encouraged him to make a decision.

The final episodes of The Boyfriend are now streaming on Netflix.