Before coming out as gay in 2018, Jonathan was discouraged from opening up about his sexuality by a surprising source. "The most conservative conversations I've had about me being honest about my sexuality in this day and age have come from gay men in the industry," he told Attitude in December 2020. ". . . They're either people who work in publicity, or there's also been casting directors who have put the call into my agent to say, 'Just so that you know, the way that this is going to be sold is that it's a gay story written by gay writers for gay actors. So by just taking the role . . .'"
Because of that, Jonathan kept his sexual preference hidden from the public. "This was at a stage where perhaps I was coming to terms with my own sexuality, I hadn't necessarily hidden it . . . But I've never been not honest about it," he added. "It's just there had never been a need to talk about it. There's a sense of shame, I think, that's palpable throughout gay men within the industry."