Lukas Gage is speaking candidly about one of the most publicized chapters of his personal life: his whirlwind marriage to celebrity hairstylist Chris Appleton.
In a recent interview with People, the White Lotus and Companion star reflected on his six-month marriage, which ended in late 2023, calling it “an act of defiance” in response to the persistent queerbaiting allegations he faced as his career gained momentum.
“With my very public relationship, I think I was rebelling in a way,” Gage, 30, said. “Because I felt scrutinized by people — that I was either hiding this big secret or that I was taking roles from people that were queer.”
At the time, Gage found himself in the crosshairs of online critics questioning both his sexual identity and his casting in queer roles. Rather than retreat, he said he leaned into the attention — and into his relationship with Appleton, 42 — in a bold and unapologetic way.
“It was an act of rebellion,” Gage explained. “Like, ‘Okay, I’m just going to be so in your face and so public-facing about this thing that you can all just shut up.’”
The pair’s romance first sparked speculation in February 2023. By March, they were engaged, and just a month later, they tied the knot in a high-profile Las Vegas ceremony officiated by Kim Kardashian and featuring a performance by Shania Twain. At the time, the wedding drew headlines and social media buzz — but behind the scenes, Gage says he was struggling with more than the public knew.
In his new memoir, I Wrote This for Attention, Gage opens up about navigating the relationship while managing a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. He writes that his decision to marry Appleton came during a period of hyper-manic behavior, where he was acting largely on impulse.
“I was just acting off of every impulse,” he recalled. “There was no reasoning, and there was no awareness to take my time. It felt very good to be in love and it felt very good to be in this situation, but there was no rationale to anything.”
The marriage officially ended in November 2023, when Appleton filed for divorce after just under seven months.
Now, nearly two years later, Gage said there’s no lingering communication between the two. “I wish him well,” he said. “There’s just no communication on that front.”
Still, Gage is not shying away from owning the choices he made, or the message his marriage inadvertently sent. He admits that during that time, his reaction to internet backlash was to go “loud,” even if that meant oversharing.
“It was an act of defiance to be so, so loud about it, almost to the point of sharing ad nauseam about this relationship and life I was living in,” he said. “I went from being very quiet and secretive to being loud and oversharing because I was so affected by these trolls online.”
In I Wrote This for Attention, available now from Simon & Schuster, Gage peels back the layers of his personal life, from his struggles with mental health to his time in a troubled teen program, and even awkward — and sometimes painful — sexual experiences. But it’s his unfiltered reflections on fame, identity, and survival in Hollywood that stand out.
