‘American Idol’s’ first gay finalist is now a total hunk, married, and … – Queerty

January 3, 2023 Kim Martel

A young man with spiky hair wear a sleeveless shirt unbuttoned while standing in front of a blue screen. — Jim Verraros on ‘American idol’ in 2002. Image Credit: Getty Images

Trigger warning for anyone who would rather not acknowledge the passing of time, but last year marked the 20th anniversary of American Idol.

Yes, that means that, in 2023, the popular ABC singing competition series will be old enough to buy a drink! L’chaim!

Over the years, American Idol has introduced us to some of this generation’s greatest vocalists, including a number of talented LGBTQ+ performers. We’ll never forget the pipes on bi icon Frenchie Davis, or Clay Aiken’s near win opposite Ruben Studdard. Of course, Adam Lambert continues to rock our worlds, and we were thrilled to welcome David Archuleta into the family in 2021.

But there’s one queer, early Idol contestant who doesn’t get the attention he deserves, and that’s season one’s Jim Verraros—technically the first gay finalist in the competition’s history.

Maybe his audition will jog your memory? (Notably, Verraros incorporated sign language as a nod to his deaf parents.)

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After that emotional audition in Chicago, the judges selected a then 19-year old Verraros to move on to Hollywood. From there, the performer received some pretty harsh criticism (Simon Cowell memorably quipped that, if Verraros wound up winning the competition, the show’s mission “would have failed”), but made it to the Top 10 off of fan vote support. In the first week of finals, he was eliminated. But Verraros’ career certainly didn’t stop with with the show.

In 2003, he joined the official American Idol tour and made headlines we he came out in January of that year. He shared that he had been open about his sexuality with fellow contestants during the show’s run, but felt he was encouraged not to be open on the show lest it give him an unfair advantage.

“I just thought it was time to come out,” Verraros said at the time. “I really hate the segregation and only being able to hold hands in gay bars. We have to start breaking down the barriers. I want to be a gay advocate and let teens know that being gay is just a small part of who you are. And if people don’t like it, it’s their problem, not yours.”

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With the notoriety from the show, Verraros would go on to release three albums, and was able to pursue his original passion, acting, appearing in one of the lead roles in the low-budget gay comedy Eating Out and its sequel Sloppy Seconds.

Despite those films being in heavy rotation for gays of a certain age, it’d been quite some time since we’d heard from Verraros. As it turns out, he’s since moved out of the entertainment spotlight, but the folks at Instinct Magazine have alerted us to the fact that he’s thriving in his late thirties, and looking hunkier than ever.

We were also pleased to learn that Verraros is now happily married, having tied the knot with husband Sean Michael Buck back in November 2021.

And, frankly, the two are adorable together. Especially when they’re both rocking sunglasses and scruff, some might even call them husband twins—but we’ll let you be the judge of that:

According to his Twitter profile, Verraros is now a recruiter for a cybersecurity firm called Akamai Technologies, but it sounds like he’s not quite left his music career behind. In a tweet last fall, he shared the (very thirsty) cover for his last album—2011’s Do Not Disturb—and revealed he’d be getting back into the studio.

We’re definitely down for that! Especially if he continues the trend of sexy album art.

I’ve made the decision to go back into the studio. For fun. No pressure. What’s a vibe you’d want to hear from me? ?? #music #gayartist #EPcomingsoon pic.twitter.com/IOXCEU0ZqG

— Jim Verraros ?? (@JimVerraros) September 10, 2022

We’ll keep our ears and eyes open for more from Jim Verraros soon. But, for now, we’re just happy to have this handsome gay talent (and his husband) back on our radars!