Sue Perkins reveals she had six-year relationship with a man

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Sue Perkins, 45, revealed she dated a man for six years in her twenties
Ended when 'Rob' came out as gay and confessed to sleeping with others
Great British Bake Off presenter is now with Anna Richardson

By Amy Lewis and Phoebe Jackson-edwards For Mailonline

Published: 05:08 EST, 28 September 2015 | Updated: 06:48 EST, 28 September 2015

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Sue Perkins has revealed she was in a long-term relationship with a man for six years until he confessed to being gay.

The Great British Bake Off presenter said she loved the man, known only as Rob, and that being a lesbian does not mean that she wasn't able to have feelings for a person of the opposite sex.

The usually self-contained 45-year-old, who is currently in a relationship with presenter Anna Richardson, 44, discussed being uncertain about her sexuality in her youth as she marks the release of her candid memoir Spectacles.

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Sue Perkins, who is currently in a relationship with presenter Anna Richardson, was in a relationship with a man for six years after meeting him in school during a theatre production

Sue told The Telegraph she had a long-term relationship with a man who she only calls 'Rob', who she met while they both starred in a production of Bizet's Carmen in school.

The six-year relationship ended when he admitted he was gay and had slept with other partners during the relationship.

The pair then took HIV tests while on holiday in Florida.

Although she is now gay, Sue said she did love her ex-boyfriend.

She said: 'I really loved him, absolutely.

'We shepherded each other through that odd stage of life where you move from your mid-teens to your early twenties.

'To be a gay woman doesn't necessarily mean you couldn't have truly loved a man or simply enjoy sleeping with men.'

Her partner Anna Richardson was previously with husband Charles Martin for 18 years before starting a relationship with Sue.

Now with presenter Anna Richardson, left, Sue loved her then boyfriend and said being gay doesn't necessarily mean you can't have ever loved a man

In her new memoir The Great British Bake-Off presenter Sue Perkins, 45, discussed her youth in new memoir Spectacles which included being unsure about her sexuality

Earlier this month, Sue revealed that a benign tumour in her brain means that she can never have children, she received a wave of support from fans.

The Great British Bake Off presenter revealed in an interview that she has been living with the growth, known as prolactinomas, in her pituitary gland for eight years.

The growth means she is unable to have children and was diagnosed while filming television programme Supersizers for the BBC, in which she ate food from different eras.

Doctors who had conducted medical tests to see how the different diets had affected her broke the news of the growth.

But in her new memoir the presenter has also been brave enough to also discuss the homophobia surrounding her diagnosis.

In an extract from Spectacles, published in the Sunday Times, Perkins revealed an unnamed consultant bluntly broke the news that she wouldn't be able to carry a child.

The comedy writer wrote the misguided doctor began with questions about whether or not she had a boyfriend.

After answering that she was gay, Sue wrote the consultant said: 'Oh, OK. Well that makes it easier. You're infertile. You can't have kids.'

Though she was initially dealing with news of her tumour, Sue said this revelation and the exchange left her reeling.

She had no immediate plans to have children, she admits, but had always relied on the fact that it was an option, regardless of the fact that she was a lesbian.

The TV star says it took her a year to complain about the treatment she received in the consultant's office.

In the meantime, she tried desperately to come to terms with the fact that she would never be able to become pregnant and carry her own child.

'It really hit me, as it hits a lot of people, I'm sure, when it's too late, this is not going to happen,' she wrote.

While penning memoir Spectacles, Perkins also recalls the pain she felt when best friend of 27 years and GGBO co-host Mel Giedroyc decided to embark upon marriage and motherhood herself

'And although I never yearned to physically have my own child, it felt like bereavement.'

Harmful lesbian stereotypes and homophobia are issues she discusses throughout the memoir, which will be released in October this year, along with the reasons behind why she had put off motherhood.

Referencing the complications that can come with having children in a same-sex relationship, she said indecision about methods played a major factor.

While penning Spectacles, Perkins also recalls the pain she felt when best friend of 27 years Mel Giedroyc decided to embark upon motherhood herself.

Having first met at an underground comedy gig in 1988, Sue describes comedy partner Mel as an 'identical soul', even going so far as to call her 'the other strand of my double-helix'.

So when Mel married in 2002 and had her first child, Perkins says that worries about them growing apart made her feel like both a 'mourner and a celebrant' at each occasion.