Blue claim they opened doors for Harry Styles to mess with gender stereotypes

dailystar.co.uk:

Harry Styles to mess with gender stereotypes.The boyband celebrates 20 years together with new album Heart & Soul in September, and it's an anniversary that's made them reflect on the positive changes in the music industry.Antony Costa believes bandmate Duncan James coming out paved the way for other stars to express themselves more freely.He told Daily Star: "It's about accepting who you want to be and expressing yourself and Harry Styles obviously does that as an artist and as himself, so he is celebrating himself."And look at my bandmate Dunc, he has paved the way for other artists as well."A lot of people come up to me at shows that I've done as a solo artist and say, 'Thanks to your bandmate I was able to come out to my mum and dad'." It wasn't easy for Duncan, who two decades ago was presented as a heart-throb for teenage girls.

Duncan added: "There was still a lot of stigma attached. I was frightened to come out as there was no acceptance, not as much knowledge."(Now) I am happy to be who I am and go and put drag make-up on without people calling me a f****t." Antony has penned the boys new track Haven't Found You Yet which is out today, but he was nervous about what his bandmates would think of it.

He admitted: "When I wrote it, I wasn’t going to play it to the boys. "I am my biggest critic. If your fellow bandmates or best mates have a strong opinion I couldn't think of anything worse, so I was hesitant."Meanwhile, more recently Duncan James was confirmed as Denise Van Outen's new sofa buddy on Channel 4's Celebrity Gogglebox.The West End star parted ways from her boyfriend Eddie Boxshall after he'd been caught messaging other women.Announcing the news on Instagram, Duncan delighted fans with a fabulous picture.