Luke Evans has been "through a lot" with his religious family after coming out as gay

Speaking on UK TV show 'Lorraine', he said: "I just realised I had a different life to lead. I was brought up in a religious, very religious, family. I'm very close to my mum and dad but the way they were living their life and what I wanted to do with my life were very, very different.

"At 16, I made the decision to leave home and start again almost. I sort of lost all connections to my friends who were all [Jehovah's] Witnesses and started another life.

"You can't be gay. [My mum and dad] are incredible human beings, we have been through a lot together. What it has taken is a lot of respect, a lot of love, a lot of time, understanding, a lot of talking and respecting each other's journeys and choices we have made. I'm happy that they're happy, and they're happy that I'm happy. That's all that matters."

The 'Beauty and the Beast' star - who appeared in productions of musicals such as 'Miss Saigon' and 'Rent' before forging a career in Hollywood - has now put pen to paper for his memoir and explained that he "never planned" for a lot of his success to happen.

He said: "I think that's one thing that people will take from the book, these moments happen. You don't even realise they are sliding doors. You jump on them, or you miss them. I think as you get older, sometimes they don't happen as often so you've got to be really aware of opportunities when they arise.

"That's why I called the book 'My Unexpected Journey', this wasn't supposed to happen. I didn't have any plan, I really didn't!"