Celebrity hairstylist feared he would ‘burn in hell for being gay’ – Metro.co.uk
A London-based hairdresser who styles Hollywood A-listers for TV and film is celebrating his identity as an openly gay man after marrying the man of his dreams.
But life hasn’t always been so positive for 32-year-old Timothy David Haveron, who spent years in and out of conversion therapy, fighting and hiding his homosexuality as his strict religious upbringing made him believe it was a sin.
Claiming that his career ‘saved his life’, Timothy now cuts and styles the hair of some of the biggest on-screen stars in his newly renovated, £25k, 1969 Airstream trailer.
He purchased the trailer early into the Covid pandemic in April 2020 and spent £50K kitting it out into a state-of-the-art salon which is now based in Paddington, west London.
Timothy, who now lives in Ealing, has finally found the freedom to be his true self, but it is clear that his adult life is a stark contrast to his former years.
‘Growing up at church, I was told that God didn’t want me this way. He didn’t want me to be gay, so I went to classes to try and be healed,’ he said.
While Timothy wants to speak out about the ‘conversion therapy’ he experienced within the church – to help others also struggling with their sexuality – he has decided to withhold details of where his ordeal happened as well as the people involved.
But he does confirm it happened ‘nowhere near’ his current home.
Timothy recalls his schooldays as a ‘living hell’.
After realising he was different from the other boys around him, Timothy, aged 13, decided to come out to a few close friends.
But instead of receiving support, as Timothy expected, he was relentlessly bullied by his peers.
‘I knew I was different from all the other kids, and I slowly realised I was gay,’ he said.
‘I told some people at school when I was 13, and they told everyone, which made my life a living hell.
‘I hated school. I came out to one girl who told all the boys, and I received horrible bullying.’
But Timothy found an escape at his Saturday job in a local salon, where he assisted staff in washing clients’ hair.
He explained: ‘My school life was a disaster. The salon was the only place I felt free, and I would count the days and hours until Saturday.
‘Hairdressing was my saving grace, and it gave me a vision for the future.’
Timothy grew up in a religious household, attending church up to five times a week, but explained that he was always at odds with many of the religious teachings he learnt.
However, in 2004, aged 14, Timothy decided to come out to his ‘best friend’, his mum.
He claims she was a ‘free spirit’ and ‘tried to understand’ as much as she could, but in the end, she took Timothy to their church to seek advice.
‘It was tough because my family grew up in an environment which was very unaccepting of anything different,’ he said.
‘But my mother was my best friend, so if there was anyone I could share my worries and concerns with, it was her.
‘She was the most amazing woman and mother on this planet Earth.
‘She was a mother just trying to understand her son. She was loving.’
But the church did not respond well, and according to Timothy, the church would not accept his homosexuality.
He was told that in order to be ‘saved from sin’, he would need to attend groups where he would be ‘healed’.
After starting a programme of ‘conversion therapy’, Timothy says he thought he would ‘burn in hell’ for being gay and tried to convince himself he was not homosexual.
During bible studies, he was also repeatedly told that God ‘did not want him to be this way’.
‘The church pulled me in, and the people in it thought they could change me,’ Timothy explained.
‘I started joining small groups at church for bible studies. I told a lady at the church about my feelings and who I was.
‘Instantaneously, I was told that ‘God had great plans for me’ and there were wonderful things that could be done through Christ.
‘The religious leaders said I had a ‘demon inside me’ and I had to ‘release it.”
After completing his GCSE exams in 2006, Timothy threw himself into his hair styling career. He claims it was his only source of happiness at that time.
And by 2007, at just 17, Timothy was a fully qualified stylist and working full-time at a salon.
At this time, he also started to concede to his ‘confused’ feelings and would go to gay bars after attending church.
‘I’d be going to these meetings at church and then to the gay bar straight after,’ he said.
‘But I was confused, I felt like I would burn in hell, but I also needed my community where I felt accepted.
‘Every day, I had bible studies. I had gospel meetings. I had prayer meetings. My whole life was fully submerged in church.
‘It was a terrifying time. I wondered why God created me this way.’
In September 2009, Timothy decided to move to Australia in order to escape his life in the UK.
However, just months later, on April 18 2010, he was told his mother had been found dead.
‘It was the worst pain I had ever felt in my life,’ he said.
‘My heart felt like it had been ripped from my chest. My life didn’t feel worth living.
‘I felt so scared and so alone. I felt like I had lost everything in that moment, and everything was torn from me.’
Embroiled in grief, Timothy returned to the UK and decided to throw himself into his career.
And finally, at the end of 2010, he landed his big break, working on a popular HBO TV show as well as working on other shows for the BBC.
After the death of his mother, Timothy found the strength to break away from the church and started to date men openly.
‘After my mum died, religion lost its hold on me, and I started to go on gay dates for the first time,’ he said.
‘I moved to London after falling for a man, but he dumped me.
‘Still, it was a positive time in my life, because I started working with people in the media, with musicians and on different TV shows.’
A year later, in 2013, Timothy met his now husband and soon fell in love.
‘I met my husband online. We went to a Persian restaurant, and he spoke French, Italian and Arabic. I knew he was the man I was going to fall in love with,’ he said.
‘He was so intelligent, and he made me feel a way I’d never felt before. I felt really special.’
However, after dating for a year, a once close friend of Timothy told him to speak to the church and forbade him from dating men.
After experiencing such intense indoctrination during his youth, Timothy slipped back to his old mindset, once more fearing the ‘wrath of God’ if he continued to pursue his homosexuality.
While Timothy and his future husband remained friends for the following year, Timothy denied being gay out of fear of ‘burning in hell’ and returned to the church.
During a 2015 trip to Cornell, California, USA, Timothy’s future husband told him he loved him, and they decided to get back together.
‘I had been telling people I wasn’t gay anymore, as I didn’t want to give the devil power,’ Timothy explained.
‘But, we were on a trip in America, and my husband told me he’d never stopped loving me, and that changed everything.’
After tying the knot in a Californian beach ceremony in 2016, Timothy and his husband have remained happily married.
After his marriage, Timothy began to feel truly confident about his sexuality, and alongside his newlywed life, he became a trusted hairstylist for many of the world’s biggest celebrities.
‘Hairstyling has saved my life,’ he said. ‘The minute I pick up a comb or scissors or paint someone’s hair, I forget every bit of pain, every traumatic feeling. I lose all of it.
‘My freest moments have been while working on film sets, where I’ve felt complete acceptance.
‘I wanted to have that feeling every day – so I bought the 1969 airstream trailer.’
Timothy spent over £50k refurbishing the trailer to make it perfect.
It includes two styling chairs, a sofa, a wine fridge, two mirrors and a TV and sits in Paddington where he works on both famous and ordinary people.
The trailer opened for business in May 2021 and is named after Timothy’s mum, Pauline.
Timothy hopes his story and happiness will inspire other people who may be struggling to accept themselves.
‘I want young people to know they can thrive, have a career and turn their lives around by accepting their sexuality and pursuing their dreams.’
Timothy, who is now proud of his sexuality, also urges anyone who receives a negative reaction when they come out to persevere and remain true to themselves.
‘To anyone struggling, my advice is to just keep looking for that dream,’ he said.
‘Don’t let your pain turn into hatred. Let it turn into love and patience.
‘By pursuing your dream, you’re allowing yourself to live.
‘It took me many years to learn this, but you can’t let anyone tell you that who you are is wrong.’
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