Colton Haynes pretended he was dating Lauren Conrad

Colton Haynes’s old management made up that he was dating Lauren Conrad.

The ‘Teen Wolf’ star finally came out as gay last year after hiding his true identity for years because his agents told him he’d never make it as an actor if he people knew he was attracted to men and, at one stage, he was forced to have a photograph with the 31-year-old beauty so that they could get publicity out of rumours they were together.

Speaking to Huffington Post, he said: "I would be at a party. There was this whole story that ran with Lauren Conrad, who I love — she’s the best. Basically my old manager at the time was like, ‘Oh, take a picture with her.’

"He just basically ran this story trying to say that I was dating Lauren Conrad. It was there for about six months. I was like: ‘Oh, great, I have to do this.’ That’s how it is in Hollywood. But not anymore. You have all these amazing showrunners who actually embrace people’s personal lives and embrace people’s truth. I think that’s pivotal."

The 28-year-old hunk has admitted the pressure his former team put on his heightened his anxiety and there were some days where he couldn’t even bring himself to work.

He explained: "My anxiety was so bad that I couldn’t even go to work. It really was so debilitating that I would faint at work. I would literally not be able to speak because I was so nervous. I had to get ahold of that before I could come back and do stuff."

After taking a year out to focus on himself, Colton hired a new team to manage his career and then felt comfortable sharing his sexual preference a few months later.

He said: "The craziest thing was my career actually became the best it’s ever been once I actually was true to myself. That happened was the most amazing experience. I was in Paris the day that the article dropped, and I cried for three day straight."

Colton is now engaged to his partner Jeff Leatham, who he started dating this year.