Shawn Mendes has spoken candidly about his sexuality.
The Canadian singer performed an intimate show in Colorado on Monday night, where he premiered songs from his upcoming fifth album, which is titled simply Shawn.
Over the course of his time in the spotlight, Shawn has repeatedly been met with speculation about his sexuality, which he alludes to on a new song titled The Mountain.
While introducing the song during Monday’s show, he explained why its message is “really important” to him.
“Since I was really young there’s been this thing about my sexuality,” he told the fans in attendance. “People have been talking about it for so long, and I think it’s kind of silly. I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing and it’s so hard to just put into boxes.
“[The speculation] always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me, something that I was figuring out in myself – something that I had yet to discover. And I still have yet to discover.”
He continued: “Writing this song felt really important to me, because it felt like a moment where I could address it in a way that felt close to my heart. And I guess I’m just speaking freely now because I just want to be able to be closer to everyone and be in my truth.
“The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I’m just figuring it out like everyone, and I don’t really know sometimes, and I know other times. And it feels really scary, because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that, and I’m trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things.
“And yeah, that’s all I really want to say about that for now.”
On The Mountain, Shawn – who has previously dated fellow singers Sabrina Carpenter and Camila Cabello – sings: “You can say I’m too young, you can say I’m too old, you can say I like girls or boys, whatеver fits your mold.”
Back in 2018, the chart-topping star opened up about the impact that jokes about his sexuality have had on him in the past.
“I’d like to say I don’t care about it, but that’s not true”, he told Rolling Stone on the subject of the “massive, massive thing for the last five years about me being gay”.
He continued: “In the back of my heart, I feel like I need to go be seen with someone – like a girl – in public, to prove to people that I’m not gay. Even though in my heart I know that it’s not a bad thing. There’s still a piece of me that thinks that. And I hate that side of me.”
The Stitches singer also claimed he felt compelled to speak out to insist that he wasn’t gay in 2016, when he considered how damaging jokes about his sexuality could be if that were something he were struggling with.
“I thought, ‘you fucking guys are so lucky I’m not actually gay and terrified of coming out,’ ” he continued. “That’s something that kills people. That’s how sensitive it is.”
On his new song The Mountain, Shawn also alludes to various other reports about his personal life, including rumours about him being part of a cult.
The album Shawn is due for release on Friday 15 November.