‘Days of Our Lives’: Is Will Horton Actor Chandler Massey Gay in Real Life?
Will Horton from Days of Our Lives is perhaps one of the best-known LGBTQ characters in the soap opera world. His storylines have been celebrated as positive representation for LGBT people, whose stories are still lacking on the big and small screens.
For many years, 32-year-old actor Chandler Massey has portrayed Will. Some fans are curious about whether Massey is also gay in real life.
‘Days of Our Lives’ character Will Horton came out as gay in 2012
The soap opera introduced Will Horton in 1995. For much of his childhood and teenage years, there was never any indication of him being gay. However, shortly after Massey took on the role in 2010, Days of Our Lives writers decided that an LGBTQ storyline would fit with the character.
“I guess something that I was doing made them think, ‘This guy should be gay! And this will be great!’” Massey told AfterBuzz TV in 2015. “They sat me down and told me ‘We have this great story for Will. He’s going to be coming out, and we want to let you know that’s the direction we’re going in.”
In 2011, the show introduced Sonny Kiriakis, who is openly-gay. This set the stage for Will’s coming-out story as he and Sonny fell in love. In early 2012, Will revealed his sexuality to his family members. Two years later, Will and Sonny got married in the first male-male wedding on daytime TV.
Will and Sonny’s relationship has received a lot of positive responses from viewers. They even reached the status of a supercouple.
Is Chandler Massey gay in real life?
Massey is rather private and has not spoken much about his sexuality. However, it does not seem like he is gay in real life.
Speaking to Greg In Hollywood in 2011, the actor said, “I’m 100% behind the LGBTQ community. The more representation they get in daytime, I’m thrilled.” This is perhaps an indication that he is not a part of the LGBTQ community himself, although he is still an ally nevertheless.
‘Days of Our Lives’ is replacing Chandler Massey
Several actors have portrayed Will Horton since the character first appeared in 1995. Massey has been in the role for the longest amount of time. He took a break in the mid-2010s, and it seems like he has left the show once again.
Days of Our Lives wrote off both Massey and Sonny’s actor, Zach Tinker, recently. Will and Sonny are heading off to New Zealand for Will’s job, which means the couple will not be seen in Salem for some time.
Massey has been on the soap opera in an on-and-off basis these past couple of years. According to an interview with Soap Opera Digest in 2022, he actually has a “day job” as “data visualization specialist at a health care analytics company” when he is not on Days of Our Lives. It’s not clear whether Massey has another acting project lined up, but it’s likely his other career will keep his hours occupied.
