Lukas Gage has admitted that marrying Kim Kardashian’s hairstylist Chris Appleton nearly ruined his career as an actor.
The White Lotus star, 30, was briefly married to Chris in 2023, but the couple split that same year, reaching a divorce settlement in June – just seven months after their divorce was filed.
They had married in Las Vegas in April 2023 in a ceremony which aired on season four of The Kardashians and was officiated by Kim and attended by Shania Twain, who performed You’re Still The One.
Now, Lukas has revealed the marriage nearly cost him his acting career as casting agents refused to work with him as they thought he had too much of a public persona.
Lukas told The Independent fans assumed he married Chris on TV to ‘clout chase’ and have more chance at getting acting work – but it had the opposite effect.
He also revealed that part of him chose to get married to Chris in the first place to prove he was gay after he felt like people were ‘coming for him’ about his casting in The White Lotus as they accused him of ‘queerbaiting’.
Lukas Gage has admitted that marrying Kim Kardashian’s hairstylist Chris Appleton nearly ruined his career as an actor (Seen in 2024)
The White Lotus star, 30, was briefly married to Chris in 2023, but the couple split that same year, reaching a divorce settlement in June – just seven months after their divorce was filed
Lukas – who wasn’t out as LGBTQ+ at the time – said he was almost rebelling against the assumed backlash that he was a straight man playing a gay role by marrying in such a public way.
He said: ‘I lashed out in this very public way that didn’t feel authentic to me, then, suddenly, this relationship overshadows all the work I’d done and the career I was building.’
‘People thought, “Oh, he’s just doing this for jobs and clout-chasing and to make his way to the top” – but, in actuality, it was a detriment to my career,’ he added.
‘At the time, the feedback I was getting from casting agents was that I had too much of a public persona, people wouldn’t let me audition for things…’
In December, Lukas opened up about the ‘witch hunt’ over straight actors playing gay roles.
The You actor slammed a recent trend of actors being bombarded by questions from fans about their sexuality when they play gay characters.
Speaking to Attitude magazine as he graced the cover of their latest issue, Lukas said he felt like people were ‘coming for him’ about his role in The White Lotus.
‘I was dealing with people coming for me, being like, “Why is he stealing a gay role? He’s just a straight guy, how dare he”, blah blah blah.’
They had married in Las Vegas in April 2023 in a ceremony which aired on season four of The Kardashians
The marriage was officiated by Kim and attended by Shania Twain, who performed You’re Still The One
Lukas also empathised with Heartstopper star Kit Connor being ‘bullied’ into coming out at just 18 years old after playing Nick in the Netflix series.
‘It’s two-fold, I’m in the camp where there’s of course certain scenarios,’ Lukas said of who should play gay characters.
Recalling Kit’s experience after Heartstopper was released, Lukas said: ‘I remember, it was the same time people were coming for me, they were coming for Kit [Connor].’
Lukas and Chris split in November 2023 with the former filing for divorce and citing ‘irreconcilable differences’. Lukas later branded the decision to wed as ‘manic and unhinged.’
According to a nine-page proposed judgment and a declaration of default obtained by People, the former couple have asked the court to sign a written agreement waiving spousal support.
The declaration of default was filed to the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles County on Thursday, June 6.
The documents also show that a postnuptial agreement is in place.
A source told TMZ last year the split was ‘not an easy decision for Chris to make but he tried everything he could to make the marriage work and needed to make the best decision for himself moving forward.’
Lukas also empathised with Heartstopper star Kit Connor (pictured) being ‘bullied’ into coming out at just 18 years old after playing Nick in the Netflix series
Lukas and Chris made their romance public in February when they shared vacation snaps from The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort in Mexico
They wed in front of only six guests at Little White Chapel after applying for a marriage license in Clark County.
In March 2024, Lukas appeared on Watch What Happens Live where he dismissed cheating rumours but hinted that he signed an non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and couldn’t talk more about the split.
Host Andy Cohen admitted he was surprised that Lukas tied the knot with Chris after only dating for two months, with Lukas admitting it was, ‘Manic, absolutely unhinged.’
‘I had a manic episode for six months. Those jackets, those furry jackets… what happened to me?’ Lukas added.
‘I don’t know literally what went through my head, but we live and we learn,’ Lukas added, when Andy asked, ‘what was the reason for your divorce?’
Andy added that there were, ‘allegations of cheating,’ though Lukas confirmed, ‘there was no cheating.’ ‘Oh, god. Andy, there the three letter thing I signed,’ Lukas said, as Andy asked, ‘You signed an NDA? With him?’
Lukas didn’t confirm nor deny, only stating, ‘I plead the fifth,’ while Andy brought up that he seemed to be in love at the time.