Joshua Bassett of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series just came out in an interview released on Monday, May 10th with Clevver News.
In the interview, Bassett answered fan questions about the upcoming second season of his hit Disney Channel + series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. The show is a Gen Z spin-off of the original High School Musical franchise, in which Bassett stars as Ricky Owen, this generation's answer to Zac Efron.
As expected, no one is ever more than a stone's throw away from a Harry Styles stan, so Bassett received many questions asking his opinion on the pop star.
In his reply, Bassett couldn't stop complimenting Styles, listing a litany of his admirable traits until eventually "coming out."
Bassett began saying: "He is a very classy man, he's also very well-rounded and kinda does it all – acting, singing, fashion."
But he didn't stop there. Bassett continued to sing Styles's praises, saying: "I think he's just a nice guy, doesn't say too much, when he talks, it matters. He's just cool – who doesn't think Harry Styles is cool?" We agree; apart from maybe Candace Owens and her brigade, who doesn't?
"Also, he's hot, you know? He's very charming, too. Lots of things," Bassett continued, a statement which he clarified by saying: "This is also my coming out video, I guess."
The casual way he threw in his "coming out" had some people confused and questioning if he was serious, but it seems pretty clear. His nonchalant revelation is markedly different from the dramatic coming out videos and announcements we have come to expect from public personalities.
Bassett's comfortability with his sexuality is inspiring and hopefully will usher in a new era where anyone can come out without the intense media speculation that we have become accustomed to.
Before this video, 20-year-old Bassett was mostly known to the rest of the world as the subject of his ex-girlfriend Olivia Rodrigo's unprecedentedly universal break-up anthem, "drivers license." Olivia Rodrigo, his co-star on the Disney + series, dated Bassett after sparking up a romance on set (very Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron of them), only for it to end and for Bassett to start dating Sabrina Carpenter.
The complex love triangle had fans trying to figure out exactly what happened — enter "drivers license," Rodrigo's tell-all confession which enamored even the most unlikely audiences (read: everyone?)
In "drivers license," Rodrigo chronicles her heartbreak over her break up with Bassett and seems to make references to Sabrina Carpenter in lyrics referencing an older blonde. Carpenter had a lot to say, releasing a rebuttal in the form of her own single, "Skin."
Rodrigo is set to release her debut album and fans are looking forward to sour for more clues and more drama. Her second single, "deja vu," followed the trend of the first, being another revealing break up anthem with Taylor Swift aspirations.
Fans are also anticipating the next season of HSMTMTS and wondering how the dynamic between the show's characters will pan out given their real-life break ups.
But Joshua Bassett is no longer just "the guy that TikTok song is about." He's now also our fellow comrade in loving Harry Styles, and we're happy to have him.