Kristen tells of her love for girlfriend
KRISTEN STEWART has opened up about her relationship with Alicia Cargile, admitting for the first time that her former PA is her girlfriend.
The actress, 26, has always remained quiet about her sexuality and her partner, who she first started dating last year. They broke up in October and Stewart formed a brief relationship with French singer Soko, before getting back together with Cargile.
Although the couple have been photographed together, Stewart has never before confirmed the relationship publicly. But she told Elle magazine she wanted to speak out because she felt hiding it made her appear ashamed.
“I think ... right now I’m just really in love with my girlfriend,” she said. “We’ve broken up a couple of times and gotten back together, and this time I was like, ‘Finally, I can feel again.’”
The actress, who dated her Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson for many years, also revealed she is now more comfortable about discussing her private life. “When I was dating a guy I was hiding everything that I did because everything personal felt like it was immediately trivialised, so I didn’t like it,” she said. “We were turned into these characters and placed into this ridiculous comic book, and I was like, ‘That’s mine. You’re making my relationship something that it’s not.’
“I didn’t like that. But then it changed when I started dating a girl. I was like, ‘Actually, to hide this provides the implication that I’m not down with it or I’m ashamed of it’, so I had to alter how I approached being in public. It opened my life up and I’m so much happier.” Stewart also spoke about overcoming anxiety, partly helped by work which she said makes her feel “stimulated and therefore like I have a purpose, and therefore like I’m strong and confident”. She explained: “I went through s so much stress and periods of strife. I would have panic attacks… I literally always had a stomach ache. I just grew out of it, but that’s not to say I don’ t get worried .” She added: “I have a really strong sense of identity when I’m working. If I’m having a bad day or something personal, or existential, or hormonal—if anything brings me down, I’m lucky if I have to go to work that day.”