NEED TO KNOW
David Archuleta is opening up about his love life before coming out.
The 34-year-old American Idol alum came out as a member of the LGBTQ+ community in 2021 and has since discussed what it was like coming to terms with his sexuality after growing up in the Mormon church.
Notably, he revealed that he had been engaged to three women over the years. He delved into the engagements during a Friday, Sept. 19 appearance on The Zach Sang Show.
While Archuleta said that his multiple engagements weren’t strange to him, he noted that they were likely “weird from an outside perspective.”
He explained how his faith influenced the decision to pop the question, saying, “Mormons get engaged really fast because you’re supposed to get married. And you’re not supposed to do anything before marriage.”
“So naturally, those impulses and those urges lead to ‘Let’s get married fast because we’re feeling a lot of urges.’ And just wanting to be intimate with each other,” the “Hell Together” singer explained.
In his case, his engagements came after he discussed his sexuality with “close people.”
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The hitmaker said that the Mormon church refers to being a member of the LGBTQ+ community as experiencing “same-sex attraction.” Archuleta explained that the church differentiated between those who were attracted to members of the same sex and those who were intimate with members of the same sex.
“Because it’s like, ‘Well, you’re not gay; you just struggle with same-sex attraction. There’s a difference because gay people live out their life, which they shouldn’t. But people who struggle with same-sex attraction acknowledge that they have the urges, but they don’t act on them. And that’s okay with God,’ ” he recalled being told, adding that he “was so obedient” that he accepted the teaching.
“I was doing what I thought I was supposed to, you know?” he said.
He continued, saying, “They’re like, ‘Well, if you get married, God will bless you.’ And so I thought by doing that I will naturally fall more and more in love with my girlfriend, and I’ll have enough faith where this won’t be an issue.”
Although he was being urged to go through with the marriages, Archuleta said that he was “really grateful” that he never made it down the aisle with any of the three women.
“I just realized, you know, yeah… I feel like these girls deserve better than this,” he said, adding that he wasn’t sure of himself and hadn’t “fully come to be honest with himself” about his sexuality yet.
“I know a lot of people do follow through with it and have kids, and they’re like, ‘Oh, I’m still queer or I’m still gay.’ I was just like… I can’t be dishonest. I’ve been told all my life to not be dishonest, so why would I suddenly make a decision for the rest of my life where I would be being dishonest?”
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The multiple engagements did change things for him in another notable way: “I tried a few times, and it didn’t work. And that’s what immediately followed up with saying, ‘I have to just come out.’ ”
In 2022, Archuleta spoke to PEOPLE about his relationships, explaining that he suffered an anxiety attack while out with one of his partners at the time. That led to him asking himself hard questions.
“No matter how hard I tried to marry a girl, it wasn’t right. And if you talk to my exes, they’ll tell you it was rough,” he admitted at the time, though he said that he and his most recent ex were on “good terms.”
In August 2025, Archuleta spoke to PEOPLE about his dating life as a queer man, saying, “For the most part, I date men, but I consider myself queer, so I’m still open to meeting girls. I still do, if it feels right.”
