I actually kind of got ratted out by my sisters. “I didn’t decide that I was going to come out openly, but I just didn’t care. It wasn’t until he moved out of his parents’ house and was attending college that he started to change his mindset. I just really hated the first 18 years of my life.” I really feel like they use that Christian shit as a hate tool down there. You know, it’s a small town, and people have nothing better to do but talk about each other’s business. And I was afraid of what people would say. “When I told her I was gay, my mom was like, ‘Well, we kind of knew, but I had this hope that maybe one of these girls that you brought home would knock you off your feet.’ But I kind of suppressed it all to please my family. That included dating girls throughout high school and middle school. So when I was discovering my sexuality in my early years, I just really suppressed it to kind of conform.”
I was kind of raised with the belief that gay was wrong, that it’s not right to feel that way. So we went to church twice a week without complaining. “My mom was very religious, and so it was like you go to church twice a week, and if you miss church Sunday or Wednesday, you have no extracurricular activities-which when you live in a small town in the country, that’s all that you have to do. I just felt like it wasn’t mine,” he says, reliving the pain with each word. I’d say for like the first 18 years of my life, I hated my life. It’s a place he would just as soon forget. Most people haven’t heard of the small Mississippi town Maddox grew up in, so he just says it’s Biloxi, which is 15 minutes west. Less than a year after signing as an exclusive with the Falcon Studios Group, he had cemented his status as one of the greats following one of the most successful years ever-and his humble nature left little doubt as to why he is a favorite with fans and industry critics alike.Ĭade Maddox and Kevin Benoit on the 2020 GayVN Awards red carpet. Hours after Sebastian missed his opportunity, Maddox found himself on stage accepting the award for Performer of the Year-struggling for words and unable to erase the wide smile from his face.
I wanted to hate them,” he jokingly laughed, “but they were so nice that it was impossible, dammit.” And a successful producer laughed after meeting Maddox and Benoit for the first time at that same party: “I mean, they’re beyond gorgeous. The night before at a private industry party, an accomplished webcam performer admitted he was too nervous to go introduce himself to Maddox. You’ll have to forgive people if they are intimidated by Maddox and his equally stunning boyfriend, although it sounds especially funny to hear it from the likes of Sebastian-a fellow nominee who undoubtedly has the same effect on people.Īnd he wasn’t the only one to express a similar sentiment. I was like, ‘Whoa!’ I had to give myself a little double-check to make sure I looked okay.” They came out of their room and were like two visions in matching black and gold tuxedos on the way to the red carpet. They’ll probably remember, because I was awkward. “I tried to chase them down, but they had already got in the elevator. He worked up the courage and quickly came out of his room again-this time on a mission. Too intimidated to say hi, he overcame his nerves and decided he was being silly. “I had to go back in and make sure I had something, but I was like, ‘Oh my god, who are these beautiful men coming down the hall?!’” They made me nervous, so I went back into my room,” laughs Sebastian, who-when pressed-admits that wasn’t the only reason he retreated. “We were staying on the same floor and came out of our rooms at the same time. He turned to make his way to the elevator and saw something that stopped him in his tracks: the site of Cade Maddox and his boyfriend, Kevin Benoit. Shortly after the red carpet festivities got under way at the 2020 GayVN Awards in Las Vegas, a dapper looking Drew Sebastian walked out of his room at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to head down for the show. Above, Cade Maddox on the stage at the 2020 GayVn Awards, presented by ManyVids.