Chris Appleton is a hopeless romantic and won’t apologize for it.
The celebrity hairstylist, best known for his work with reality-TV star and media mogul Kim Kardashian, opened up about his high-profile marriage to “White Lotus” star Lukas Gage during an Aug. 6 interview on the “Jay Shetty Podcast.”
Appleton, 42, and Gage, 30, married in April 2023 in a star-studded ceremony that saw Kardashian as the couple’s officiant and country music icon Shania Twain perform.
However, just six-and-a-half months later, Appleton filed for divorce in Los Angeles court in November 2023, according to court documents reviewed by USA TODAY. The beauty mogul cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the couple’s split.
Appleton reflected on the intense media scrutiny of his divorce in his conversation with host Jay Shetty: “It was definitely the first time that I’d experienced that magnitude of people being so invested in my private life.”
Why Chris Appleton doesn’t regret Lukas Gage divorce
A few months after Appleton and Gage’s divorce, Gage described their marital relationship as “a manic episode for six months” in a March 2024 interview on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
“What happened to me?” Gage told host Andy Cohen. “I don’t know literally what went through my head, but we live and we learn.”
Despite his short-lived marriage to Gage, Appleton told Shetty that there were no hard feelings looking back on the abrupt breakup.
“Moving fast doesn’t always mean you’re reckless,” Appleton said. “I think sometimes it means you’re hopeful. I think any relationship I’ve ever been in, I’ve gone into with an open heart, and I have no regrets about that. I think we shame people too much for leading with an open heart.”
Chris Appleton talks emotional toll of coming out to children
Appleton, who came out as gay after starting a family with former partner Katie Katon, got candid on the emotional toll that coming out had on him and his children.
The hairstylist and Katon share son Billy, 22, and daughter Kitty-blu, 20, who were 8 and 6, respectively, at the time of Appleton’s revelation.
“They were upset ’cause they knew I was upset, and they were confused and all of a sudden, I just felt like I just messed their life up,” Appleton reflected. “I felt like I’d failed as a dad because my job was to protect them. And if anyone ever hurt them, I would protect them. But I was the one hurting them.”
Appleton, who came out when he was 26, added that his declining mental health at the time led to a suicide attempt.
“I felt like it would be better for them to have a dad that was dead than a dad that was gay,” Appleton said. “I don’t think I ever wanted to die. I wanted to kill the thing that I felt that was destructing my life and the thing that made me feel different as a kid. The thing that made me not blend in with all the other boys and girls.”
Despite the harrowing experience, Appleton said the ordeal was a “turning point” that inspired him to embrace his queer identity.
“I realized I couldn’t hate myself any more than I had,” Appleton said. “I spent my whole life creating a different world that I thought everyone wanted me to be and tick all the boxes, but I knew I had to reveal the truth.”
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY