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Exclusive: Queen Latifah’s trainer Jeanette Jenkins tells us “I’m not gay”

In October, Jillian Michaels will launch her first ever Ultimate Wellness Cruise and she’s invited celebrity trainer Jeanette Jenkins to join her. Jenkins has worked with several public figures including Paula Patton, Kimora Lee Simmons and, most famously, Queen Latifah. Let’s clear something up right away: The rumors about Jenkins and Latifah dating are not true, according to Jenkins, who tells us she’s straight. “I have gay friends, but I’m not gay,” Jenkins said. She also indicated the gossip about her online and in magazines is nothing but fiction, and she’s less bothered by paparazzi than the lack of fact-checking by journalists.

“The first blog that writes a story gets picked up by everybody else as what really happened,” Jenkins said. “No one ever tries to call the person and get an interview.”

When I asked her if she was open to speaking about her personal life to someone who did want an interview, she said no. “Doesn’t that feel strange, telling someone you don’t know about your private life?” she asked. “My private life is for me and the people that know me.”

Jenkins says her private life is very separate from her career as a health and fitness expert. She said she’d wanted to work with Michaels, the star of Losing It with Jillian, because she was proud of all her hard work The two met when she and Michaels were both up for the same job on The Biggest Loser. Jenkins’ male counterpart dropped out, Bob and Jillian were ultimately cast, and the rest is history.

“She could have just sat there on the show but she really created a brand for herself,” Jenkins said. When the two trainers recently found themselves seated next to one another on a plane, Jenkins told Michaels she wanted to work on something with her. Enter the Ultimate Wellness Cruise. Despite having never been on a cruise before, (“just plenty of yachts”) Jenkins is excited about the upcoming trip and says she’s going to be open and available to participants who have questions and want to get the most out of their time. She also says she’s developing a television series, as well as working with a network on an upcoming “Healthy Living Challenge.”

In the meantime, Jeanette is keeping busy with multiple TV appearances on shows like Dr. Oz and Tyra, and having an active Twitter presence (@jeanettejenkins). It’s inevitable that Jenkins will continue to pop up in paparazzi photos and on gossip blogs when working with celebrities on a weekly basis (one of whom she may have shared a hug and bought a home with.) Regardless, we’re taking Ms. Jenkins at her word. Looks like the women will have to set their sights on the only out trainer on board the Jillian Michaels Ultimate Wellness Cruise, and it ain’t Jeanette.

The rumor of Jenkins being Queen Latifah’s girlfriend has existed since 2007, when the two were spotted hanging out together at events around Los Angeles.Then, a blind item about “a big Hollywood actress,” engaged to her girlfriend, said she was “ready to come out of the closet.” But Latifah quickly cleared that up at the premiere of her film The Perfect Holiday, telling a reporter:

“Oh my goodness you guys actually believe that? You can’t believe everything you read. There will be no major announcement made. The only major announcement I have to make is ‘Merry Christmas.'”
That same year she told Glamour magazine:
“Luckily, this gay thing hasn’t messed up my appeal to the gentlemen, because I have never had any problems meeting men. Maybe they get turned on by the idea of that!”
When asked by Ebony if she was dating Jeanette, the Queen said, “No comment on that at all. I’m done commenting on all that … It’s ridiculous. I know me and that’s all I need to know.”

“No comment” statements often make public figures look suspect, or at least appear as if they have something to hide. If Latifah and Jenkins didn’t have any romantic relationship, just saying so might have served her better. But she’s right; it’s her life, as Jenkins’ life is her own. So why is there something about Latifah we just can’t figure out? We’re all so sure she’s gay, and it’s not just the lesbian community who thinks so.

This past June, three years after the initial rumors began, Upscale magazine asked Latifah again about the speculation.

“I don’t have to explain anything. I don’t have to confirm anything,” she said. “Look, I need my time. I need my life.” And then Larry King followed up with the same question, to which she responded:

“Oh Larry don’t even go there. My personal life is my personal business … I am just Dana. … I share with the public the things that we should share. We should share music. Let’s share that. Let’s share films. Let’s share that. Let’s share thoughts about positive things. Let’s share those things. But what happens in my personal, personal life is my personal business.”
At least she’s become consistent in the past year and no longer jokes how the lesbian rumors help her meet men. Not that we ever see her with any men. And so the speculation persist. Is it because she likes sports? Or she’s not super-feminine all the time? Because she played gay so convincingly in Set it Off?

We all have our own reasons for thinking someone has to be gay, and we often rely on stereotypes that inform our own gaydars. The issue with Queen Latifah, if she ever were to come out, is that she’d likely face a barrage of comments from people who won’t be interested in hearing her explain why she once denied being gay, or seemed to dismiss gay marriage in an interview with Glamour when she said: “I don’t know that it should be called marriage. But the idea of it is the same, and you should have the same quality of rights that a married person has. People think of marriage as something that is between a man and a woman, because it was created by God. Well, let God handle the judgment, too. You stay out of it.” The media blew up over these recent photos of the Queen and Jeanette embracing on a yacht in France, and blared headlines about Queen Latifah coming out. But Latifah hasn’t made any comments on the photos since the leak. And since Jeanette Jenkins flatly denies being gay or bi, let alone in a relationship with the Queen, we could have saved a lot of time and (virtual) ink on articles about the two of them playing for our team. At least for now.

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