Chichester man who came out at seven, nominated for BAFTA for role in Channel 4 documentary 'My Gay Life'

Billy Thorndale, 18, starred in a documentary on Channel 4 in December last year which saw the fashion student nominated for a Children's BAFTA. The prestigious award ceremony will take place at the Roundhouse Theatre in London.

Mum Denise said how proud she was of her sons achievement. She said: "When he was ten we went along to Brighton Pride. A producer was there from Glasshead and my son was dressed up as Gaga."

The producer asked if they would be interested in being part of the documentary about coming out, so they agreed.

She added: "He's really excited. To even get nominated is such an honour. He's an amazing little chap."

Billy was on the train home from a night out when he found out he'd been nominated.

He said: "All of a sudden I got a call from my mum saying I had been nominated — I didn't know how to react.

"I never thought that an award would be coming from that. It's super humbling because there had been a lot of work that went into the documentary."

The documentary, titled 'Extraordinary Teens: My Gay Life' was shot over six years covering Billy's life through his teens.

He added: "It was tricky at times and it can be demanding but I always knew it was going towards something worth so much at the end.

"So many other projects never make it. I think the reason that its got such a good response is because its very real. There's no intended message from the start — it's just me being me.

"It's okay to be able to be confident in who you are at a young age."

Executive producer Lambros Atteshlis said : "We had been following Billy since he was 12. He has done a lot of the filming himself, he used to just turn the camera on and talk about his life.

"Billy's a very bright young man. He was fairly convinced from the age of seven that he was gay — we just told his story."