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Darin Zanyar, one of Sweden’s biggest pop stars, comes out as gay

The 33-year-old, known mononymously as Darin, is one of the country's best-selling artists.

By Will Stroude

Darin Zanyar, one of Sweden’s biggest pop stars, has come out as gay.

The 33-year-old singer, known mononymously as Darin, opened up about his sexuality publicly for the first time in an Instagram post on Tuesay (4 August).

“Everyone in the world should be able to be proud and accepted for who they are”, Darin wrote alongside a picture of himself looking out over the sea.

“I know how difficult it can be. Took me a while, but I am proud to be gay. Happy pride!”

Darin, who shot to fame after reaching the final of the first season of the Swedish version of Idol in 2004 at the age of 16, ranks as one of the country’s best-selling artists.

The Stockholm-born star has released eight studio albums to date, seven of which have topped the charts in Sweden.

Fellow Swedish pop icon Zara Larsson was among those to congratulation Darin on coming out, commenting underneath his Instagram post: “Speak your truuutthhh!!! Glad [English: ‘Happy’] Pride.”