Shawn Mendes has admitted he finds speculation about his sexuality "hurtful".
The In My Blood hitmaker made the comments during an interview with the Guardian, insisting that he finds it tough to deal with the rumours.
“For me it’s hurtful,” he asserted. “I get mad when people assume things about me because I imagine the people who don’t have the support system I have and how that must affect them.”
Rumours that the star is gay have been rife for several years, and he famously took to Snapchat in late 2017 to refute the claims, saying: “First of all, I’m not gay. Second of all, it shouldn’t make a difference if I was or wasn’t.”
While the There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back singer reflected that the talk doesn't affect him personally, he suggested that it is the effect that it has on other people that bothers him the most.
"I was so angry, and you can see I still get riled up, because I don’t think people understand that when you come at me about something that’s stupid you hurt so many other people," the 20-year-old considered. "They might not be speaking, but they’re listening."
Elsewhere in the chat, the Stitches star reflected on the role of social media in this life, and claimed that it has made him more conscious of maintaining his public image.
"I’m scared of social media and how much it affects me,” he reflected. “It’s literally become infused with who I am.
“I don’t think of myself as conceited, but I definitely spend a lot of time reading about myself."
