'I feel comfortable now knowing that I am gay': Emmerdale actor Max Parker shares his coming out story after confirming romance with Kris Mochrie

• Max, 29, explained how aged 18 he came out as bisexual to just a few friends, before enjoying a seven-year relationship with a woman 
• It wasn't until a year after they broke up that he decided he could no longer 'imagine himself being with a woman' 
• His boyfriend Kris Mochrie, 34, starred as Lee Posner on the ITV series until he left in October of last year, while Max continues to play Lee's brother Luke
• The pair did not have any scenes together on the soap and did not meet until after Kris had shot his final storyline 

Emmerdale actor Max Parker has shared his coming out story, after confirming his romance with co-star Kris Mochrie, asserting: 'I feel comfortable now knowing that I am gay!' 

During the summer, the pair - who were cast as brothers Luke and Lee Posner in the ITV soap - sparked dating speculation when they enjoyed a rainy hike and shared a snap of themselves sunbathing together to Instagram. 

The actor, 29, explained how aged 18 he came out as bisexual to just a few friends, before enjoying a seven-year relationship with a woman. 

It wasn't until a year after they broke up that he decided he could no longer 'imagine himself being with a woman'.

Talking to Attitude magazine, Max explained: 'Around about 18 I came out [as bisexual] to a few friends. My ex-girlfriend knew that before I was with her - about my sexuality.

'As time went on I didn't want to talk about it because I didn't want to make her feel like people would ask questions. But it was only when we broke up when I was around 26, 27 that I started to tell more people about my sexuality.'

Detailing why their relationship ended, Max touched on the pressures to propose and have children after dating for so long when he wasn't sure he wanted to spend his life with a woman. 

He said: 'One of the main reasons why we did split in the end was because I knew that she's a beautiful girl and she could basically be with anyone she wants, and I was stopping her from [doing] that.

'When you get to a certain age and people say, "You've been together for this long, are you going to propose, have kids?" all those kinds of questions, it makes you think "Am I doing the right thing by not pursuing this thing that I've had in the back of my mind?"

Max explained how, about a year after they broke up, his mindset changed and he embraced his homosexuality. 

He said: 'There did come a point, maybe about a year later, where I thought "From now on I don't think I can imagine myself being with a woman".

'Something in my mind just changed… I feel comfortable now knowing that I am gay.'

Discussing his relationship with boyfriend Kris Mochrie began, Max revealed that although they met on the set of Emmerdale, it wasn't until he spotted Kris on Tinder than he slid into his DMs.

Max said of their first meeting: 'He was filming his last day on set... That was the first time we met. I didn't know he was gay, but I remember thinking he's very handsome…

'It was later I thought 'I've never done Tinder, so I'll have a go', so I went on Tinder and I saw him pop up, and I was like 'OK this is a sign' – so I made the first move by sending a message on Instagram….

'I didn't know he was gay and I didn't know that he would fancy me, but then he did.'

Max's interview comes after he and Kris, 34, moved into their first home together, setting up a swanky love nest in Manchester.

The soap star gave fans a brief glimpse inside their apartment by showing off one of their hallway on his Instagram Stories with the caption: '#newhome,' which Kris reshared. 

A source told The Sun: 'As first homes go, this is a doozy. Max and Kris are proud and excited to start the next phase of their relationship in style.

'Moving to Manchester works well for them as it's a central point between Leeds, where Max films Emmerdale, and London, where Kris does a lot of consultancy work. Plus, it's close to Kris' native Liverpool.

'It's a long way from the rural village life of Emmerdale, but they've worked hard for what they've got.' 

A source previously told The Sun that Kris met Max after he filmed his final scenes as Lee and they kept in touch after he left the soap.     

In September, Kris spoke to The Mirror about their romance, admitting: 'It's great to meet someone through work and have so many things in common and an understanding of each other's jobs.  

'We didn't actually share any scenes together on Emmerdale but kept in touch after I left.

'I don't want to jinx things. We are seeing how we get on. We had a great time on holiday in Dubai. Let's see how it goes.'