Talk Show host Anderson Cooper announced Monday that he is gay. The television personality has often been reluctant to talk about his personal life on-air, but on Monday he opened up and announced that he does live a gay lifestyle. The CNN journalist wrote in an online letter that he had kept his sexual orientation private for personal and professional reasons.

"The fact is, I'm gay, always have been, always will be, and I couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself and proud," he wrote in the letter, published by Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Beast. For many years many have speculated on Cooper's sexual orientation, yet he remained silent through it all. The "grey hair fox" seems to be one of the few in the broadcast industry to ever step out and openly admit he is gay. Few have ever elected to address their personal lifestyle before the general public. Cooper's show, "Anderson Cooper 360," received an award this year from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

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