Jake Daniels Says He Met His Soulmate After Coming Out
Image: Jake Daniels Instagram
Out gay Blackpool FC football player Jake Daniels (18) recently opened up about meeting his “soulmate” Mark, 46, soon after coming out last year.
In an interview on the podcast How to Be a Man, Daniels, 18, shared that Mark was among the over 20,000 people who congratulated him on social media after he came out.
‘Top Message Was From My Partner’
“I came out and had my Instagram, my Twitter taken off me, so I didn’t see anything.
“When I had my Instagram back, I had 20,000 message requests or something ridiculous like that, I’d never seen that in my life.”
Daniels continued, “There was one day, I was about to get on a train, and I went on my message requests just to have a gander and the top message was from my [now] partner, just congratulating me.
“I had a sneaky look on his Instagram, and I was like, ‘Alright!’ Dropped a message back and said, ‘Thank you so much,’ – and at the end asked something like ‘Is there anything else I can do for you?’ I knew what my motive was!”
Following some more messaging back and forth, and a Facetime call, they decided to meet in person.
“We’ve been together ever since,” Daniels said, adding that he, “couldn’t be more happy.”
‘I Just Don’t Want To Lie Any More’
Daniels became the first active professional male football player in England to come out as gay in 32 years. Daniels came out in a self-penned essay that was published by Sky Sports.
Daniels wrote, “I just don’t want to lie any more.”
He continued, “Now is the right time to do it. I feel like I am ready to tell people my story. I want people to know the real me. I have been thinking for a long time about how I want to do it, when I want to do it. I know now is the time. I am ready to be myself, be free and be confident with it all. And now I have decided to come out.”
Prior to Daniels coming out, Justin Fashanu was the only out football player in British sports history.
