Hardy by name...

Speculation about an actor's sexuality is so commonplace, it's now a mandatory part of the career trajectory for any young man in the performing arts. From the moment someone first catches a casting director's eye, they're likely to be subjected to feverish speculation on every film-based message board.

But every once in a very long while, along comes an actor who isn't just prepared for the question, he's thought about his answer and decided to plump for honesty over obfuscation.

When country rock singer Vanessa Carlton and actress Anna Paquin recently announced their bisexuality to the world, pop culture commentators carped that it was easier for women. A little shock, a little titillation, and no harm done. It certainly didn't seem to hurt Angelina Jolie's career when she revealed that she'd munched some muffin in her time.

So what should we make of Tom Hardy's revelation this week that he's happy to embrace his gay side, not to mention other men's? OK, so maybe the tense is a little off - he did specify that this was a phase in his past. But his refreshing openness about sex with other men is still pretty encouraging.

Asked if he'd ever done the nasty with guys, the pretty pouter said "Of course I have. I'm an actor for fuck's sake. I've played with everything and everyone. I love the form and the physicality, but now that I'm in my thirties, it doesn't do it for me."

But have-a-go-homos shouldn't lose heart about the fact that he's now happily engaged to actress Charlotte Riley. As Tom says, "I'm done experimenting but there's plenty of stuff in a relationship with another man, especially gay men, that I need in my life. A lot of gay men get my thing for shoes. I have definite feminine qualities and a lot of gay men are incredibly masculine."

So there you go - you might not get to suck on those bee-stung lips of his, but you can happily while away an afternoon with him in Schuh.

And if Tom decides to fully embrace his 'feminine qualities' there's a new TV show in development where he can make his big announcement. Created by publicist Howard Bragman, 'Coming Out' while be a documentary-style show that will follow celebrities as they take their first tentative steps out of the showbiz closet.

It remains to be seen which celebrities will be willing to make a potentially career-defining declaration on an A&E reality show. If the whole point is that 'it's no big deal' - building a whole show around what a big deal it is might be counter productive. In the meantime, we can all start placing our bets on who's likely to appear. Time to hit those message boards then...

Bi bi baby

No sooner had we gotten used to the earth-shattering revelation that Ricky Martin 'Shakes His Bon-Bon' for the boys, along comes another celebrity to upset the applecart with revelations about their sexuality.

This time around, it's Anna Paquin, the one-time Oscar-winning child star, who is throwing her closet doors open wide.

Anna made her announcement while filming a public service announcement for Cyndi Lauper's Give a Damn Campaign, which promotes equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community. The video was shot at the end of January and features a number of high profile stars (and Kelly Osbourne) encouraging the public to "give a damn" about discrimination.

To say that people were surprised by Anna's declaration would be something of an understatement - apparently even people present at the video shoot had no idea that Anna had something she wanted to get off her chest. But there she is, telling the world "I'm Anna Paquin. I'm bisexual and I give a damn."

Within hours of Anna's story hitting the news, the servers at wegiveadamn.org had crashed, presumably because a bunch of frustrated men thought they'd be getting something very different when they heard about 'Anna Paquin's bisexuality video'.

Although most people seem to be pretty accepting of Anna's lifestyle, the concept of bisexuality still seems to be a little troubling for some. Since Anna is engaged to her True Blood co-star Stephen Moyer, some Daily Mail readers are confused as to how that's all gonna work, making comments like "If she's bisexual why get married? Has she read the vows?"

Oftentimes, bisexuality is seen as the easier option - somehow more palatable and less extreme than fully fledged homosexuality. It's something you try in college, like braiding your hair or voting for the Green party. But bisexuals are also tarnished by a reputation for omnivorous promiscuity - as though they'll screw anything that moves, and still have a good go even if it's tied down.

The gay community isn't particularly sympathetic either - often believing that bi-people don't have the courage of their convictions. To some, bisexuality is like driving school - somewhere you go to practice before your full licence is issued.

Bisexuality is far from the easy option. There's no discernible 'identity' or culture to follow. And you'll be unfairly judged for the inability to commit to a relationship, simply because you choose not to commit to a single gender.

Woody Allen once said that "Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night." He's right, but it also doubles your chances of getting your heart broken.

Duncan's blue period

These days, if you're a celebrity with a product to sell, it's no longer enough to pop up on a chatshow and press the flesh with whoever happens to read the questions off the autocue. You have to give something of yourself - a confessional tidbit that the papers can claim as an exclusive, and it doesn't matter how personal the details are. In fact, the more explicit the better.

This weekend, Katie Price proved herself the master of this dark art, using a recent miscarriage in an attempt to attack the alleged insensitivity of her estranged husband. Worried that he was winning the majority of the public's support simply by getting on with his life, Katie decided it was time to get her acrylic claws out.

It seems that the management of recently reformed boyband Blue may be advising a similar strategy. With a major tour to promote, singer Duncan James has revealed in an exclusive interview with the News of the World that he's bisexual. Despite crafting a reputation as a permanently priapic ladies man, it turns out that Duncan was into more than just 'One Love'. "Yes I was labelled a womaniser, and yes I did sleep with a lot of women. But there were tell-tale signs I was that way inclined. I've always been theatrical and loved being on stage."

Aside from describing himself as 'that way inclined', and his use of 'theatrical' as a one-size-fits-all euphemism, Duncan claims to be happy and at peace with his lifestyle. It also means that twice as many fans have a chance of being invited backstage at the forthcoming concerts. So that's good news all round.

Following last month's shock announcement that the reunion was 'partly about the money', I'll be interested to see what the other three boys in Blue can come up with when the News of the World come knocking for further exclusives. Failing that, I suppose the dubious tabloid could always just tap the lads' phones and see what comes up.