Interview with Darren Hayes

Written by Bruce Munro

After living a life of denial, pop star Darren Hayes is now truly, madly, deeply at ease with his sexuality.

“I’m one hundred per cent more open about my emotions, my feelings and my life,” he says.
Success may have come quickly for Hayes, who, with band mate Daniel Jones went on to conquer the world as Savage Garden; but this did not bring him happiness. “The whole process of being famous for me was an enormous distraction from happiness,” he admits.

Amongst gossip pages and fans alike, there was always speculation about Hayes’ sexuality despite him being married at the time. As he sang in Savage Garden’s song, ‘Affirmation’, “I believe you can’t control or choose your sexuality”. Eventually, Hayes realised the power of these words and decided to stop living a lie.

“It happened to me at the very peak of my career with Savage Garden,” he says. “While the world saw me as a confident lead singer with hits and selling records I was really just on the run.”

He denies that coming out was in any way an attempt to gain attention or sell more records, but rather, to reach a state of self-understanding. “It certainly wasn’t a career decision; it was a human decision,” Hayes says. “I had spent way too long being sad privately and yet publicly trying to be happy.”

Now, with a new album, This Delicate Thing We’ve Made, we can expect to see the real Hayes. “I’m a freer person and I’m just so much more comfortable in my skin,” he says.