Powerful Moment Disney Star Karan Brar Revealed His Bisexuality to a ‘Jessie’ Co-star Before Josie Totah Kissing Confusion
- Karan Brar was one of the Ross siblings that Debby Ryan's character Jessie babysitted on the titular show.
- Brar came out to his Jessie co-stars and roommates Cameron Boyce and Sophie Reynolds when he was 20.
- Brar and another of his Jessie co-stars Josie Totah caused confusion on the internet with their viral kiss on TikTok.
There’s something cathartic about watching stars from popular Disney Channel shows grow up into adults. This feeling becomes even more profound when these former child stars share personal aspects of their identity, making audiences feel as though they truly grew up together, albeit on opposite sides of the screen. One such star is Karan Brar.
Brar co-starred in the show Jessie alongside Cameron Boyce, Skai Jackson, Josie Totah, and Sophie Reynolds. Recently, he made headlines for kissing Totah in a viral TikTok video, but long before this happened, he had made the revelation about his bisexuality to Boyce in a moment of weakness.
Karan Brar’s personal essay revealed how he came out to his Jessie co-stars
Karan Brar is most popularly known for his role as the Indian middle schooler Chirag Gupta in The Diary of a Wimpy Kid film franchise. Following this, he landed a role in the Disney Channel comedy series Jessie, in which he played the role of Ravi Ross. The show starred Debby Ryan as the titular character while Brar’s Ravi was one of the four kids from the Ross family that Jessie used to babysit.
While working on the show, Brar became best friends with Cameron Boyce and Sophie Reynolds, who were his co-stars. The trio moved in together when the Bunk’d actor was 20. However, Boyce and Reynolds were yet to find out the truth about Brar’s sexuality, which he had successfully managed to keep a secret for a long time as he led a double life.
In a personal essay written for Teen Vogue, Brar reflected on how two different versions of himself were affecting his mental health. After a rather rough night, he came out to his roommates and assumed that they would no longer want anything to do with him.
I decided that was the best time to come out to Cameron and Sophie. The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted it. I could barely see straight, but I ended up trying to do some damage control anyway. The best thing I could think of came stumbling out of my mouth: “If you guys want me to move out I can. Just give me two weeks to figure it ou–” They interrupted me by hugging me from behind.
He wrote in the essay that his friends were shocked when he came out, but it was not because of his sexual identity, but because of his expected reactions from them. He thought they would not want to be friends with him anymore, but they were as supportive as ever. Boyce’s passing in 2019 had a huge impact on Brar’s mental health.
Karan Brar and Josie Totah claimed that their kiss was “a joke”
Karan Brar and Josie Totah’s PDA-filled TikTok video took the internet by storm as millions of fans began speculating that the two were in a relationship (via PEOPLE). The video showed Brar coming up from behind Totah and wrapping his arms around her waist as she leaned in for a kiss.
When the video went viral online, Totah posted another TikTok video in which she clarified that it was “a joke”. Well, it was certainly not a joke for fans who completely bought into their seemingly real kiss. In the caption of a second video, she wrote: “We are two platonic best friends who danced a little too close to the sun.”
Brar did his part in clearing up the relationship speculation by posting a story on Instagram in which he wrote, “It was a joke,” followed by a crying emoji, and even said that the friends “didn’t mean to gaslight” the internet. If the kiss was really a joke, they are certainly good actors considering how convinced fans were about a relationship between them.
