Troye Sivan Recalls ‘Predatory’ Dating Experiences, Teases New Song ’17’

Troye Sivan is getting candid about dating as a young gay teen.

During a recent interview with Attitude Magazine, the "My My My!" singer detailed his early dating experiences, recalling that, while navigating gay nightlife in his home country of Australia, he had regular encounters with older men.

"All my friends were hooking up with random people at parties, and I just felt so left behind because I didn’t know gay people. I didn’t know where to meet gay people," said the 22-year-old, who came out publicly in a 2013 YouTube video.

Eventually, he explained, he got a fake ID and made a Grindr profile. "I didn’t really want to venture out by myself and so I just did stuff that a 17-year-old boy shouldn’t really have to do," he continued. "[I] started to try to meet people who were like me, but you sort of are forced a little bit into these hyper-sexualized environments...Even though that’s awesome when you’re 17… I didn’t know what else to do."

Often, Sivan said, these hook-ups left him uneasy. “I don’t remember specifically but, because I was always so small, I was so scared to meet up with people because I was like, ‘I’m going to get killed, I’m going to get murdered by someone," he recounted.

Sivan has since become a queer pop icon, and is now in a relationship with model Jacob Bixenman, but it's clear these experiences still affect him — they inspired an upcoming song, "17," from his impending sophomore record.

“Originally the chorus of the song was 'Here he comes/ Like he just walked out of a dream/ Doesn't care that you're 17,’” he told Attitude. “And I was like 'uh, that sounds a bit predatory,' and maybe it was a little bit.”

Sivan's still-untitled record is due out later this spring. Revisit PopCrush's interview with Sivan about the project here.