Aspiring model Nick Gruber says he's "not gay," despite his previous relationship with Calvin Klein.
The 23-year-old recently spoke with New York Magazine about how he came to date the fashion mogul, 48 years his senior. He described how they met in New York through mutual friends. The topic of his sexuality eventually came up when he discussed his time in the Army.
“I mean, basically what happened was that the gay community—” Gruber said, pausing. “I’m not gay, but I don’t believe in labels, I believe in love. So the gay community in Fort Riley, Kansas, was really bad ... A lot of people, they would get beat up, or you’ll be sleeping in a bunk and the next thing you know your roommate could come over and smash your head in, and no one really knows about it."
He was later discharged under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.
Gruber has some big plans nowadays, the magazine notes. He wants to have a child by 30 and has enlisted the help of public relations rep to build a career as an extreme-sports trainer and model.
With a past speckled by pornography, a rehab stint and a recent bloody brawl in the Hamptons, Gruber's record isn't exactly sparkling clean. Queerty suggests his "I'm not gay" declaration is part of remaking his image.
Still, this isn't the first time Gruber has denied being "gay."
Last year, in an interview with the New York Post's Page Six Magazine after his split from Klein, he insisted he is straight. He also noted the fluidity of the 70-year-old designer's sexuality.
"I was the first man [Calvin] fell in love with," he said. Klein previously had heterosexual relationships, including two marriages to women. "I don't know why, but there's, like, something about me that attracts everyone. I have a nickname called Romeo. I get every girl, and even guys. Something about me draws them all in," Gruber added.