Definition and direct statements
Pansexuality refers to sexual, romantic or emotional attraction to people regardless of gender or gender identity. Anderson told The Australian that in her younger years she had relationships with women. She described the label as one that fits after reflecting on those experiences and on conversations with other women around her age. The 58-year-old star of The X-Files, who is reported to be in a relationship with The Crown creator Peter Morgan, chose to speak openly in the new interview. She explained that the term captures the pattern she has observed in her own life without requiring further qualification.
She noted that she does not flirt heavily or publicise her orientation widely. Instead she listens to accounts from peers who are rediscovering sensuality and desire later in life, often through dating apps that also attract much younger men. Anderson observed that many women in her age group now appear to be enjoying the process of meeting people again and are approached by a wide range of potential partners. These observations reinforced her sense that the pansexual label continues to describe her experience accurately. The source provides no additional statistics or external commentary on how widely the term is used among her peers.
Link to Sex Education and later projects
Anderson credits her four seasons playing sex therapist Jean Milburn on the Netflix series Sex Education with shifting her perspective on desire, vulnerability and openness. The role prompted questions about how she approached intimacy in her own life and led directly to two books. Want, published in 2024, and its follow-up More gather anonymous fantasies and reflections from women worldwide. Anderson acts as curator, collecting accounts that range from explicit fantasies to explorations of grief, body image and tenderness. She has described the process of editing the submissions as an extension of the conversations that began on the set of the series. The source gives no circulation figures for the books or details on how many submissions were received.
She described herself as “a very sexual being” in the same interview. When asked which body parts she finds attractive, she listed forearms and hands on men and lips, buttocks and the collarbone on women. The combination of the television role, the books and the public discussion has allowed her to articulate these preferences more directly than before. She indicated that the four seasons spent portraying a character whose profession centres on sexual matters gave her permission to examine her own patterns without hesitation. No further professional projects beyond the books and the series are mentioned in the source as directly influencing this shift.
Adolescent experiences and language gaps
Weeks earlier Anderson spoke to the Sunday Times about moving from London to the United States at age 11. She recalled one early relationship with an older girl at school that felt secret and forbidden. A subsequent boyfriend ended the relationship after learning of it. She said she did not consider herself lesbian at the time because she had also dated boys, yet lacked words to describe the fuller range of her attractions. Even in later relationships with women she questioned whether they could be permanent. The secrecy required during the teenage relationship stayed with her and contributed to the difficulty of finding language that felt accurate at the time. The source offers no additional dates or names for these relationships.
1996 “Sexiest Woman” title and private reality
In 1996 Anderson was voted “Sexiest Woman in the World” by FHM readers while starring in The X-Files. She has written that the honour arrived at a moment of low personal confidence. She was raising a two-year-old daughter alone after separating from her husband, working long hours and wearing oversized flannel pyjamas during the telephone interview that accompanied the magazine feature. The public image of latex and glamour bore little relation to her daily life of scripts, childcare and self-protection. She later reflected that the fantasy projected onto her had no connection to the reality of single parenthood and constant work demands. Three decades later she states she feels more at ease with her sexuality. She attributes the change to accumulated experience, the Sex Education role and the process of editing the two books. In a British Vogue interview she noted that the most seductive thing anyone can wear is the quiet certainty of belonging exactly where they are. This sense of belonging has replaced the earlier period of self-protection and disconnection from her body. The source supplies no further personal milestones between 1996 and the present.
Upcoming work and possible shift in focus
Anderson is set to co-star with Hannah Einbinder in the satirical horror film Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma. She indicated that once the second book and the film are completed she may step back from public discussion of sex and desire. The remark suggests a possible boundary after several years of sustained commentary on the subject. She framed the decision as a natural close to a chapter rather than a rejection of the topics themselves. The source contains no information on future projects beyond this film and book.
Frequently asked questions
What does Gillian Anderson mean by pansexual?
She uses the term to describe attraction to people irrespective of gender after having relationships with both women and men.
Did the Sex Education role change her views?
Anderson has said the four seasons portraying a sex therapist opened new perspectives on desire and led to her books collecting women’s accounts.
Has she discussed teenage relationships publicly?
Yes. In an earlier Sunday Times interview she described a relationship with an older girl at school and noted she lacked vocabulary to label her attractions at the time.
What are the titles of her recent books?
Want, published in 2024, and its sequel More compile anonymous sexual fantasies and reflections submitted by women.
Is she currently in a relationship?
Reports indicate she is in a relationship with The Crown creator Peter Morgan, though she has not discussed that partnership in detail in the cited interviews.
