John did so well to overcome the bullies reveals his sister
JOHN Barrowman’s sister has spoken about the horrendous bullying he suffered as a child.
Carole, 59, had to watch for years as her younger brother was taunted and abused for being different – and she’s proud of the man he became.
The gay Doctor Who and Torchwood star was first abused after his family moved from Glasgow to Chicago, when he was eight.
Carole said the bullying started over his Scottish accent.
“A lot of the kids at our apartment building would harass him a lot,” recalled Carole. “He hated it.”
And life got worse when he started Joliet West High School aged 13.
John was even attacked by those in his drama class, where he had hoped to fit in.
“The older kids were really very unkind,” remembers Carole, now a professor in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“They were mean to him because they could tell he was talented. He was supposed to be the inferior one. The first time he tried out for a part, I remember very distinctively John coming home, really upset.
“They had been very aggressive with him, in fact. He was sitting there feeling very distressed.”
Added to that, John – now married to Scott Gill, his partner of 28 years – was aware of his sexuality from 13 but would date girls in an effort not to stand out.
“He would try to fit in to avoid getting bullied,” explains Carole.
And while all this “left a scar on him”, she says it also taught him to cut out the “toxic people” from an early age.
Carole: “Bullying left a scar on John. He saw the nasty side of life. But he came through it all to become an entertainer and likeable personality.
“Now I know that if anyone was being bullied, John wouldn’t hesitate to stand up for them.”
John, 51, who has also starred in Desperate Housewives and US superhero series Arrow, revealed how bad the bullying became when asked for advice by a schoolboy in a 2015 YouTube video.
He told the boy: “I was bullied because I was different. I’m also a gay man.
“The best thing to do is take a deep breath and walk away.
“If they start hitting you just do what I did and drop and cover, cover your head. And someone will come along to help.”
The siblings remain close, together with older brother Andrew and his parents Marion and John Snr.
And Carole lets slip that John has already got Scott, 55, the ultimate Christmas present – the gift of not doing panto this year.
The pair, who registered a civil partnership in 2006, got married in Los Angeles in 2013, just days after the ban on same-sex marriage was ended. They have homes in London and California.
“The biggest plan John has for Scott is not doing panto this year,” says Carole. “We’re going to have a big Barrowman family Christmas get-together.
“John throws an amazing Christmas dinner and party. Everyone has to do a party piece – there’s no way out.”