Gillian Anderson chose to open up about her lesbian affair because her former lover died from a brain tumour.
The former ‘X-Files’ actress spoke of her relationship with a woman – who she was with in high school – in the past, and she has now revealed she felt she owned it to her ex-partner after she passed away having turned down offers to sell her story.
She told the Mail on Sunday newspaper’s Even magazine: "She had died of a brain tumour a year earlier and I had never really spoken about her.
"She was a beautiful person who was very meaningful in my life and I wanted to honour her instead of hiding my experience.
"There was a point years after we split when she phoned to tell me to say she had been offered a large amount of money to sell a photograph of us together and had chosen not to do it."
As a tribute to her, Gillian – who has had two husbands and a long-term relationship with Mark Griffiths, the father of her two sons – revealed the news to gay magazine Out two years ago.
She has now admitted she is grateful for her former lover for turning down the money she "really could have used".
She added: "It was a very big decision because she really could have used the money.
"I felt it was very important to take the onus off that type of relationship, to say this happened and I feel no shame about it."
Gillian Anderson opens up about lesbian love affair
