Pop star Samantha Fox has shared that she doesn’t feel comfortable describing herself as gay despite having been in same sex relationships for nearly two decades.
Appearing as a panelist on the British show Loose Women, Fox spoke about writing her forthcoming autobiography and how in recent interviews she’s been asked about her sexuality and relationships.
Fox said she’d ‘sat of the fence’ during a recent interview with talk-show legend Oprah Winfrey.
“I did sit on the fence a little,” Fox said,” I told her I don’t believe in labels.”
Fox said for a long time she was scared of labeling herself as a distinct sexuality out of a fear that she might lose her male fan base.
Fox said that she’s now happy to say she prefers women, noting that she’d been in a relationship with her manager for sixteen years and is now in a new same-sex romantic relationship.
The panel discussed the phenomena that society has becoming accepting of men acknowledging their homosexuality later in life, often after being married and having children, but you rarely hear of women making the same declaration.
Fox said people shouldn’t be afraid of coming out and being honest about their sexuality.
“I would say to any women watching, don’t be scared about coming out, like I was, and worry about what people think, because love is a great thing and you’ve got to live life today.”
Fox rose to fame as a glamour model in the British tabloids in the early 1980’s before launching a pop career in 1986.  Her debut tune Touch Me (I Want to Feel Your Body) was a worldwide hit.
Over the next decade Fox recorded seven albums, working with a range of producers including Stock, Aitken and Waterman, U.S. funk band Full Force and David Cole and Robert Clivillés of C+C Music Factory.
Fox confirmed she was in a relationship with her manager Myra Stratton in 2003. Stratton passed away last year after a two year battle with cancer.
Check out Samantha’s take on the Dusty Springfield tune ‘I Only Wanna Be With You’ produced by Stock, Aitken and Waterman.Â