Reid Ewing 'comes out' as gay

Actor Reid Ewing has 'come out' as a gay man after publicly lusting after a guy on TV.

The Modern Family castmember, who plays Sarah Hyland's onscreen boyfriend on the hit sitcom, revealed his sexuality to fans online over the weekend (20-22Nov15) after commenting on a TV piece about body dysmorphia - a topic he had just opened up about in a candid blog post for The Huffington Post.

After tuning into a segment, featuring the story of a New York City resident called Eugene Bata, on breakfast show Good Morning America, he took to Twitter.com and wrote, "Saw Eugene Bata on @GMA in the Body Dysmorphia segment connected to my article and I just want to say he is hot af (as f**k)".

His comment prompted one follower to question, "@media_reid Did you also just out yourself?", to which he replied, "I was never in."

The 27 year old, who had never previously commented on his sexuality, hit headlines last week (ends20Nov15) after coming clean about his struggles with accepting his looks after overcoming an addiction to cosmetic surgery.

In the article, the actor revealed his insecurities began when he first moved to Los Angeles to break into Hollywood.

"(I) had very few, if any, friends," he explained. "I'd sit alone in my apartment and take pictures of myself from every angle, analyzing every feature. After a few years of doing this, one day I decided I had to get cosmetic surgery. 'No one is allowed to be this ugly,' I thought. 'It's unacceptable.'"

He underwent his first plastic surgery to get cheek implants at 19, but the operation left him in serious pain and he was not happy with the results, leading him to find another doctor, who suggested he get a chin implant, too.

Reid underwent a series of other procedures over the next couple of years, but nothing made him feel good enough - until he realized he needed to quit messing with his features in 2012.

"All the isolation, secrecy, depression and self-hate became too much to bear," he continued. "I vowed I would never get cosmetic surgery again even though I was still deeply insecure about my looks. It took me about six months before I was comfortable with people even looking at me."

Sharing his advice to others considering surgery, he wrote, "Before seeking to change your face, you should question whether it is your mind that needs fixing. It's a horrible hobby, and it will eat away at you until you have lost all self-esteem and joy. I wish I could go back and undo all the surgeries. Now I can see that I was fine to begin with and didn't need the surgeries after all."