Growing up, I was a socially awkward kid who didn't know where he fit in, and I didn't have many friends, but I always had wrestling. I always had what was in between those ropes, and that always put a smile on my face no matter what.
Growing up as a chubby kid with a ton of imaginary friends and a Cyndi Lauper obsession, I learned about rejection early on and was constantly trying to avoid it.
And that really captures the difference for the bullied straight kid versus the bullied gay kid, is that the bullied straight kid goes home to a shoulder to cry on and support and can talk freely about his experience at school and why he's being bullied. [...] And I couldn't go home and open up to my parents.
I was awkward in school. I didn't really fit in with any kind of crowd in school. I didn't have a lot of friends. But the friends I had were very close friends.
I had a very close relationship with another kid when I was growing up. I was his imaginary friend.
I was born tall. I was awkward and gangly. Before that, I was a really chubby elementary school kid. I've always been sort of a physical abnormality.
I think everyone has their awkward phases. Growing up isn't easy for everyone. I definitely had my awkward moments.
I used to have acne when I was a kid growing up. You can imagine how serious that was in making you feel bad. And I had skinny bow legs. I mean, as a kid growing up, I was an insecure fella.
One of those chubby kids that would do something athletic and everybody would look at me and say, 'What the heck? Did that kid just do that?' That's the kind of chubby kid I was.
I'm a first-generation American, so I had friends from several cultures while growing up, including Indian and Iranian friends.
I have had a close-knit group of friends since I was a kid; they are my friends.
When I was growing up as a kid, it was always, 'Oh, you're being bullied. Well, toughen up. Get some tough skin and deal with it.' That's how we were told to deal with it, and it's not that simple.
Having been bullied growing up, it's something that's really near and dear to my heart. You probably won't have many friends on Snapchat if you're being a jerk.
I wasn't always this confident. Growing up as the awkward gay kid in a small town in Pennsylvania, you're constantly told, 'Don't be yourself, don't be proud of who you are.
I wasn't always this confident. Growing up as the awkward gay kid in a small town in Pennsylvania, you're constantly told, 'Don't be yourself, don't be proud of who you are.'
I don't understand anyone thinking I'm sexy at all. I don't get it because, growing up as a kid, I wasn't. I was like a dork, fat, so for me it's really weird. I became famous in Australia when I was 18, and I was still a little bit chubby.