Actor Johnathon Schaech says he was asked to be Ellen DeGeneres arm candy on red carpets before she came out of the closet.

Schaech, who appeared in hit films like How to Make an American Quilt and That Thing You Do!, revealed on Reddit that he was asked by his manager to go to events with DeGeneres.

“She was scared people would not watch the show, her sitcom Ellen, because she was gay,” he said.

After DeGeneres did finally come out in 1997, appearing on the cover of Time magazine, her sitcom was canceled and it looked like her career was over. But then she returned to screens in 2003 with her daytime talkshow. The rest, as they say, is herstory.

Schaech, went on to marry Married With Children star, Christina Applegate.