Luke Evans Recalls His First Crush... and How He Wants Childhood Bullies to Apologize

In his best-selling memoir, "Boy from the Valleys: An Unexpected Journey," out actor Luke Evans recalled being bullied before he even knew what it meant. Growing up in a Jehovah Witness enclave in Wales, Evans was called a "Jovey bender," a combination of two aspects of his identity that could never be reconciled. The religious sect does not accept homosexuality.

Such insults left him in a very dark place, he wrote, "knowing you're somehow 'wrong', but with no idea why that is or how you can fix it."

He added that he "hated school. Children can be horribly intolerant, evil little b**tards some of them. Anything slightly different about you and you're a target – and I was different in almost every way possible."

And on the podcast "Great Company," the 45-year-old hunk opened up to host reality TV star Jamie Laing about being bullied, as well as acknowledging his first crush.

Evans said the insults, which included "shirt shifter," left him feeling "dirty" and "like [he] had a disease." They left him feeling more isolated, but added that he "knew there was more" beyond school, which kept him going.

Asked if he would forgive his tormentors, Evans said he would. "Yes, I guess I forgive them," he said. "I'd love for them to ask for it though. On their knees, 'Please, please forgive me.'"

"The ultimate revenge: success," Laing added.

He also revealed his first gay crush came when he was around nine or 10 when he fancied his rugby teacher.

"I remember thinking, 'Holy – what is this?'"

"I just felt something I'd never felt before," he said of the experience, adding that his teacher was "good-looking," had "big muscles," and drove "a sports car with my name, Luke, written on the seatbelts."

Evans is currently in a relationship with Fran Tomas, a project manager in construction from Madrid. Evans went public with the relationship in December 2022. In a People Magazine story, Evans said: "He's a great human being. He's the best part of me for sure. He literally makes me a better person. And he has to put up with my s---, which I can't imagine what that would be like."

To find out more about Luke Evans, visit his website.

And check out these pics from his Instagram: