'Wicked' Put Jonathan Bailey in the Spotlight, but Mum's Still the Word on his Private Life

There's little doubt culture is having its "Wicked" moment. Universal's $150 million musical, which is well on its way to making back that cost plus plenty more, shattered box office expectations, according to Variety. Its first weekend grossed114 million from 3,888 theaters over the weekend in North America, with an additional $50.2 million at the international box office, bringing its global tally to $164.2 million. It marks the biggest worldwide opening for a film based on a Broadway show, supplanting another Universal musical, "Les Miserables," with $103 million in 2012.

And it is only the first half. Its second part, due out in a year, is also budgeted at $150 million.

While everyone knew that co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have the singing chops to pull of their respective roles of Elphaba and Galinda, it is Jonathan Bailey as their mutual love interest, the dashing Prince Fiyero, who has surprised many with his considerable singing and dancing skills. Just prior to taking his best-known role as the hunky bachelor Anthony Bridgerton in Netflix's "Bridgerton," Bailey won a Laurence Olivier Award (the London stage's equivalent to the Tony Award) for his performance in the gender-switched revival of "Company." In the show he sang Sondheim's super-difficult "Not Getting Married Today" that in this production is sung by a man who gets the pre-wedding jitters just prior to his scheduled marriage to his boyfriend. The switch and the authenticity of a queer man singing the role made the moment all the more touching.

But while his "Company" character is open about his relationships and feelings, in real life, according to a report in Parade Magazine, Bailey keeps them tightly under wraps. The closest he has come to opening up about if he is seeing anyone came in an interview a year ago in The Standard about his role on the Showtime series "Fellow Travelers". (He won the Critics' Choice Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries and earning a Primetime Emmy nomination for his performance.)

"His relationship status is off-limits," reported Nancy Durant for the Standard. "There's 'a lovely man', but that's all he'll say, 'It's not secret, but it's private,' he says. 'Having a private life is, for me, completely critical. I don't know if I would be able to be as confident to speak out on other things if I felt that my whole life was up for grabs.'"

Previously the 36-year old was said to be dating fellow actor James Ellis from 2019 to 2022. "Though neither ever publicly confirmed the romance, the Bridgerton star did attend the Olivier Awards with Ellis back in 2019 and shared a celebratory smooch with the man when he won the Best Actor in a Supporting Role award for 'Company', writes Parade.

In an interview with GQ, Bailey recalled some advice given by an industry insider to a queer actor he knew. "At the time he was told, 'There's two things we don't want to know: if you're an alcoholic or if you're gay.' " Those words stuck with Bailey. "All it takes is for one of those people in that position of power to say that, and it ripples through," he says. "So, yeah, of course I thought that. Of course I thought that in order to be happy I needed to be straight."

But as he evolved, Bailey realized there was something more important than career success, which was his happiness. "I reached a point where I thought, Fuck this, I'd much prefer to hold my boyfriend's hand in public or be able to put my own face picture on Tinder and not be so concerned about that than getting a part."