Clay Aiken Says He Lost ’50 Percent’ Of His Fans When He Came Out In 2008

When Clay Aiken came out into the world in 2008, the public didn’t react the way they probably would today.

Shortly after the birth of his son, Parker, in August 2008 American Idol alum came out as gay on the cover of PEOPLE. At the time, Aiken said he wanted to follow through on a promise he made to himself as a new father.

“It was the first decision I made as a father,” Aiken, then 29, said at the time. “I can’t raise a child to lie or hide things. I wasn’t raised that way and I’m not going to raise a child to do that.”

Now 46, Aiken reflects on that moment with PEOPLE, saying that so much of his public persona revolved around speculation about his sexuality. While he’s glad he was able to figure it out — it came with a price.

“Back then it was a big thing,” says Aiken, who recently marked his return to music with The Christmas bells are ringing.

At the time, Aiken was starring on Broadway’s Spam lotteryand he noticed a drastic change in ticket sales after he came out.

“The first four months I was in, the show was sold out, standing room only. You can actually look at the ticket sales the week after the cover came out,” he says. “It went from selling very well until the week after the cover came out, ticket sales dropped. Spam lottery ended up closing a few months after that.”

“We’re in a very different time,” he continues. “I lost maybe 50 percent of the fan base.”

Still, Aiken has no regrets and is “thrilled” to know “that’s not the world we live in” anymore.

“A lot of people who come out now end up having spikes in popularity because of it… It’s crazy to me because it’s the opposite of what happened when I came out,” he says. “But it means there is progress, and it means we as a country are moving in the right direction.”

On November 22, Aiken released a holiday album after more than a decade away from music titled The Christmas bells are ringing. The album celebrated tradition and nostalgia with beloved holiday standards by greats like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Paul McCartney.

“I really wanted to make songs that people know Christmas is about. I mean, it’s about nostalgia. It’s that time of year at the end of the year when we look back on the year we’ve had and reflect, and we also like the memories from the past,’ he says.

After coming in second place IdolAiken toured nationally and made his Broadway debut. He was also the first Idol alum to have his first single debut at no. 1 on Billboard Hot 100, earn a platinum single and score a triple platinum album.