Orange Is The New Black’s Pennsatucky star Taryn Manning clarifies her sexuality
Taryn Manning, best known as feisty prisoner Tiffany ‘Pennsatucky’ Doggett in Orange is the New Black, has given a tell-all interview about love, family, and her sexual orientation.
Setting the record straight in an interview with People, Manning clarified that while she has experimented with women in the past, she identifies as straight.
In the interview, the actress and singer clarified her sexual orientation.
“I’m not gay, meaning I love men” she said.
“I love gay people. I’ve experimented. It’s good. I just prefer men.”
Manning’s character in the hit Netflix show starts life in Litchfield as a hostile anti-gay fundamentalist.
Through the show’s five seasons, Pennsatucky slowly becomes a more sympathetic and tolerant character, partially due to her friendship with butch lesbian Big Boo, played by Lea DeLaria.
OITNB has been highly praised for its varied representation of LGBT+ people and relationships, as well as its powerful portrayal of female characters.
Taryn Manning at the Emmys (Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
The show is critically acclaimed, winning a host of awards both for individual actors and as part of the wide ensemble.
OITNB has been confirmed for two further seasons, with season six of the show tentatively expected in June 2018.
In the People interview, Manning also discussed her difficult relationship with her mother.
She said: “I lost my mother, not from death. The hardest part is that my mom is still alive but we’re estranged.
“It’s really sad to watch a beautiful relationship crumble over b.s.”
Manning continued: “The only way you can start with reconciliation is forgiving yourself.
“‘You can’t love anybody until you love yourself.’ But it’s true, you really can’t.”
Manning gave the interview in the lead up to the release of her new film, The Vault, which will be released in the UK September 8 and is currently in US cinemas.
