Clay Aiken to reveal he is gay

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After years of dodging questions, former "American Idol" singer Clay Aiken will acknowledge he is a gay man in an interview with People magazine set to run on its Web site Wednesday, according to media reports.

Celebrity site Perezhilton.com on Tuesday published a photo of the cover of People magazine's upcoming issue on which Aiken cradles his new son, Parker Foster Aiken, in his arms.

The caption reads "Yes, I'm Gay," and underneath is a quote from Aiken on his decision to come out of the closet that says: "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things."

In August this year, Aiken's friend, music producer Jaymes Foster, gave birth to the baby fathered by Aiken.

A spokeswoman for People would neither confirm nor deny that Aiken told the magazine he is gay. But the magazine issued a statement saying, "We can confirm that Clay Aiken and his son appear on the next cover of People. For the complete story, visit people.com at 7 a.m. (EDT Wednesday) (1100 GMT) morning."

Aiken, 29, gained fame as a contestant on the No. 1-rated U.S. TV talent show "American Idol" in 2003. He was the runner-up that season but went on to build a solid singing career on his own. He currently appears on Broadway in "Monty Python's SPAMALOT."

For years, Aiken has dodged questions about whether he is homosexual despite persistent rumors on the subject. He has said, generally, that his sexuality was nobody's business but his own.

In 2006, ABC television's Diane Sawyer asked Aiken and he shot back that it was a "really rude" question. He also dodged it in a previous interview with People magazine saying that readers "are going to believe what they want."

(Editing by Bill Trott)