Sam Smith: 'Im Just Figuring Out What It Means To Be Gay'

Sam Smith kicked off 2018 by sitting down with pal (and longtime fan) Sarah Jessica Parker for a no-holds-barred V magazine interview .

The singer-songwriter, 25, looks more dapper than ever on the cover of the magazines Discovery issue, which hits newsstands on Jan. 11. His chat with Parker touches on everything from music to sexuality to his much-talked-about weight loss .

In between the release of his 2014 debut album, In The Lonely Hour , and its acclaimed 2017 follow-up, The Thrill of It All , Smith says he became a gay man properly. Most importantly, he adds, hes had intimate relationships with other gay men, too.

When I wrote that first album, I was in love with a straight man, he didnt love me back, and I was very comfortable in my longing, he said. With this record, I became a gay man. I started having proper relationships with men. Sometimes they were in the wrong and treated me in a bad way, and sometimes I was in the wrong.

Honoured to be on the cover of @vmagazine & to have got the opportunity to sit down with the sensational @SJP and talk about life and love. And thank you to @formichetti for making me feel so comfortable in front of your lens x pic.twitter.com/scs8F3LwM5

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Honoured to be on the cover of @vmagazine & to have got the opportunity to sit down with the sensational @SJP and talk about life and love. And thank you to @formichetti for making me feel so comfortable in front of your lens x pic.twitter.com/scs8F3LwM5
Sam Smith (@samsmithworld) January 3, 2018

Smith has, of course, had a few stumbles along the way. In 2014, he said the queer communitys use of dating apps like Grindr and Tinder was ruining romance , a comment widely interpreted as slut-shaming.

Two years later, Smith implied that he was the first openly gay man to ever win an Oscar when picking up the Best Original Song award for Writings on the Wall at the 2016 Academy Awards. It didnt take long for other celebrities , media outlets and social media to point out the fact that he wasnt .

But Smith isnt deterred.

Im just figuring out what it means to be gay, he said. Also, I dont have a lot to go by as a gay man in music: Even the George Michaels and Elton Johns werent out at the beginning of their careers.

#V111 pic.twitter.com/UnzyIvd4uB

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#V111 pic.twitter.com/UnzyIvd4uB
Sam Smith (@samsmithworld) January 3, 2018

Though theres been lots of buzz about Smiths weight loss , he also shared that he still struggles with body image.

When I was shooting my first music videos, I just wasnt happy with the way I looked, so I was trying to control the way the camera moved, he said. I was constantly looking in the mirror, pinching my waist, weighing myself every day.

While Smith has learned to really love my stretch marks, he added, I need to constantly train myself to watch the right sort of films, to not look at certain ads and think thats how my stomach should look. Its something that Im fighting every day. I think men should talk about it more.

Smith also opened up about his new relationship . Though he doesnt mention any names, the star has been photographed holding hands and kissing 13 Reasons Why actor Brandon Flynn , 24, in New York and Florida in recent months.

On a personal level, Im in a relationship right now and for the first time, I think I deserve to be happy, he said. Im actually asking myself if Im going to be writing some happy love songs soon.

Read the full V magazine interview here .