VIDEO Ty Herndon reveals he is gay in new Entertainment Tonight interview

In a new bombshell interview, country music superstar Ty Herndon comes out of the closet and officially announces he is gay.

Ty, who has been a country singer for nearly two decades, makes the admission in an Entertainment Tonight sit down scheduled to air in its entirety Thursday night. The 52-year-old reveals that he has known all along and has had a lot of help keeping his secret along the way, and that his two ex-wives are “absolutely” aware of his sexuality.

“I had a lot of people around me that I trusted at a time and I was like,’Hey, you know this about me but the world doesn’t. So I’m gonna need to call on your services for a little while,'” Ty admits. “It was unfortunate that I had to do that, but I felt that’s what I had to do to have my career. Standing on some pretty solid legs today, so I get to tell my truth today.”

The confession seems to shine a new light on his most recent album title, 2013’s Lies I told Myself.

Ty isn’t the only one that is on pretty solid legs these days, he also believes the country music industry and its fans have progressed dramatically over the last two decades. “Traditionally in country music, we don’t see a lot of support for the LGBT community, but that’s changing so much,” he said. “Nashville is changing so much. I mean my goodness… Kacey Musgraves won Song of the Year for [the lyrics] ‘follow your arrow, wherever it points’ and two amazing songwriters that happened to be gay wrote that song.”

Herndon the adds, “It gives me a lot of hope that Nashville is ready for this. I get to be free today. I’m born again today, and I feel like I’m not gonna have any trouble sleeping tonight.”

Ah, but all you fellers hoping to ask Ty out at his next concert, you need to hold your horses! Ty reveals he has been taken for quite a while. “I have an awesome relationship that I’ve been in for a good number of years,” Ty says. “[I] love him very much and he loves me.”

So how serious are they? “God, I’m hoping he asks me right after this interview!” Ty jokes. “I do want children one day, you know,” he adds. “I do want to be married one day.”

Congratulations to Ty Herndon! Be sure to tune in for the full interview on Entertainment Tonight on Thursday!