'I went on I Kissed a Boy for my younger self'
A contestant on BBC Three's I Kissed a Boy said he went on the show so he could tell his story for his "younger self".
Jordan Burrow, 26, grew up on a farm in the Lake District where he did not see many gay people.
"I was literally the only gay person in the village I was from so it's hard to understand how you're feeling when there's no one else around you who's feeling the same," he told BBC Radio Cumbria.
Mr Burrow said that made it difficult to come to terms with his sexuality but, if he had seen himself on the dating show, he might have "understood myself a little bit better".
Hosted by Dannii Minogue, I Kissed a Boy sees a group of gay men matched up and the greeting each other with a first kiss.
Mr Burrow, who grew up between Dent and Sedbergh, said if similar TV shows existed when he was younger he would not have felt so isolated.
"Growing up, I'd say I really struggled to come to terms with my sexuality because you just don't see, back then when I was growing up, like 10 years ago in the Lake District, you didn't see many gay people," he said.
"If I had seen this on a TV show then I potentially would have understood myself a little bit better."
This was the 26-year-old's main motivation for going on the show.
"I thought this is my opportunity to tell my story," he said.
"I'm from a farming background so already that's a story to tell, that being gay and in a farming community probably isn't as seen in the current world.
"I wanted to just tell my story for my younger self."
Mr Burrow moved to Manchester when he was 21 following a relationship break-up and said he now had "a brighter outlook on life as a gay man".
"The person that went into the show and the person who came out of the show were very different people," he said.
"I cried a lot, but I learnt so much about myself.
"If little me could see what I'm doing now they would be absolutely mind blown," he said.
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