American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi has set the record straight on Adam Lambert's buzzed-about sexuality: He's gay.
"I don't think that Adam was ever in [the closet]," she says in a taped interview airing Friday on ABC's The View. "I think he was always openly out."
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Walters then asked again if Lambert — who has never publicly said he's gay — "was always openly out." "I think he was," DioGuardi replies. "I mean, from what I've seen … I do. I never thought he wasn't."
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Asked by Barbara Walters whether Lambert's perceived sexuality may have influenced Idol voters, DioGuardi says, "Well, first of all, I hope not … because we should be judging on talent and viability in the music industry and they both [Lambert and winner Kris Allen] had that."
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Lambert has so far skirted questions about his sexuality (although he is rumored to announce he's gay in an upcoming issue of Rolling Stone). "I know who I am," he recently told Entertainment Weekly. "I'm an honest guy, and I'm just going to keep on singing," added the 27-year-old San Diego native, who has appeared on websites dressed in drag.
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Simon Cowell previously told TV Guide that Idol has "never had an issue" with Lambert's sexuality and called it a "huge step forward" — but never revealed if he's out.
