Interview With Kat Feller of "High School Reunion"

TV Land's new reality show, High School Reunion, which premieres tonight, reunites classmates from a Texas high school 20 years later in a beautiful Maui setting. The show brings together the grown-up versions of various typical high school identities such as "the jock," "the popular girl" and "the bully," as well as identities that emerged some time after high school, including "the lesbian," embodied by Kat Feller.

Now an animation voice-over actor who lives in the Los Angeles area, Feller dated boys during high school but considered herself a closeted lesbian who was never able to truly be herself with her classmates. In the first episode, she comes out to her former classmates and shares details of her lesbian life since graduation. But Feller also reveals another motive for joining the reunion: She's thinking about dating men again and wants to explore her bi-curious side with her old classmates.

She recently talked with AfterEllen.com about how it felt to come out her classmates, going on a date with the most popular boy in school, and who she had a crush on back in the '80s.

AfterEllen.com: You're identified on the show as "the lesbian." You say on the show that you really bloomed after high school when you started living as a lesbian. When was that?
Kat Feller: I came out to my family about a year after I was actually out to my self. And that was about at the age of 21. … Maybe two or three years after high school I started identifying with it and understanding exactly the way I was feeling and knowing that I'd had these feelings for a really long time. I mean, elementary school long time. But just being too scared to even think about what was going through my head.

AE: Early on in the series you come out to your classmates, and then very soon after that you tell them you are interested in exploring dating men again. Can you tell us about that decision?
KF: Over the years as I've gotten older, I've become a little bit more open. In my 20s, I was anti-man and that sort of thing. I think men are great as people and beautiful as people. I am physically way more drawn to women still and I know that I always will be, but part of me doesn't want to be so closed off — but I also can't see myself being with a man long-term. I don't even feel like I'd be comfortable going on a true date with a guy.

To be honest with you, it makes me a little uncomfortable just to think about it, because it's just so foreign. But it makes me a little bit curious because it has been so long since I've been on a date with a guy, so as I've gotten older I've gotten just really curious to see what it would be like to go on a date with a guy. So that's where that came about.

Coming out to my classmates on TV and finally getting to come out to them 20 years after the fact was an amazing experience for me, as far as that goes. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. It felt really, really good to be myself.

AE: Among your women classmates, was there anyone whose reaction to your coming out really surprised you?
KF: You know what? Out of all the women who were there who I confessed to or told my secret to, every single one of them were completely supportive, excited actually, like "Oh, really?" Very inquisitive. They were like, "Tell us about it."

It was funny because when everyone was talking about their relationships, they were like, "My boyfriend does this, my boyfriend does that," and I was like, "Yeah, I've been in a relationship for the last five years." And they were like, "What does he do?" And I'm thinking, "Why does it always have to be a he?" I was like, "She," and they were like, "Whoa!" They were all surprised a little bit, but not in a negative way.

It was very positive. Never once did I get a negative response at all. Honest. It made me feel really comfortable the whole show. It was nice.