Duncan James reveals his daughter Tianie, 16, has been subjected to vile abuse from trolls

Duncan James has revealed his daughter Tianie has received vile abuse from trolls because of his sexuality.

The singer, 42, came out as bisexual in 2009 before confirming he was gay in 2017 and said his 16-year-old has been subjected to ‘awful’ messages.

Speaking to Fabulous magazine, he said: ‘She’s also aware that people could be horrible. People can be quite nasty about me being gay and say quite horrible things about the fact that I’m a gay dad.

‘People have written to her, saying, “Isn’t it disgusting your dad’s gay? How do you feel?

‘”You must be ashamed of him”, and stuff like that, and you’re just like, “Why are you writing to a kid saying stuff like that? Are you really crazy?” People are just awful.’

Duncan said he has received homophobic messages from people living in other countries which he believes is down to religion trying to tell people what is right or wrong.

Prior to coming out, Duncan had romances with Tara Palmer-Tomkinson and Geri Horner, who he said was ‘cool with it’ when he told her he is gay.

Duncan is still close with Tianie’s mother Claire Grainger, saying the pair are working together to limit their daughter’s social media use so she is not exposed to trolls. 

The singer is in a relationship with Rodrigo Reis from Brazil, with the couple meeting two years ago in Belgium after a gig Duncan performed with Blue.

Duncan told how he has been in toxic relationships in the past but described Rodrigo as a ‘lovely boy’ who gets along well with his daughter.

The star added that he did not identify as gay for years because of issues with coming out but Rodrigo has made him proud to be gay.

Duncan also revealed that he and Rodrigo have discussed getting engaged but the singer wants to wait until lockdown is over and their finances are in better shape.

The couple have discussed having a child but Duncan wants to be married before thinking about bringing another baby into the world.

Lockdown has been tough on his relationship with Rodrigo who is currently in Belgium while Duncan remains in the UK.

However, the couple speak ‘ten times a day’ and always make sure to FaceTime before bed.  

Duncan will be back on the small screen this month as he is taking part in the new series of The Circle alongside Denise Van Outen, Pete Wicks and Nadia Sawalha.