Regarding Clay Aiken’s admitting to be gay, the "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell, told the entertainment news show "Extra": "Wow. That's a shock. It's like being told Santa Claus isn't real. Unbelievable."

The 29 year old former "Idol" runner-up on the 2003 season, who is also a multiplatinum recording artist and a Broadway star, admitted his sexuality during an interview with People magazine. Aiken appears on the cover of the latest issue as well, in a picture holding his very young son, Parker Foster Aiken, conceived by in-vitro fertilization with friend and producer Jaymes Foster.

The headline that appears on the cover of the magazine goes like this: "Yes, I'm Gay."
It seems that his becoming a father helped him confess his sexuality to the world. The cover story is scheduled to be published on Friday. “It was the first decision I made as a father,” Mr. Aiken says on People.com. “I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn’t raised that way, and I’m not going to raise a child to do that.”

It appears that Aiken had a harder time confessing to his family. He broke the news to his mother, Faye, four years ago. "Poor mom, I told her the day that my brother left for Iraq for the first time ... I just thought, 'Well, it's a bad day already, might as well not spread it out.” His mom was "obviously somewhat stunned," Clay added. .

In 1997, comedian Ellen DeGeneres similarly came out by appearing on the cover of Time magazine.