wirtz was openly gay. when radford came out as gay in 2014, he credited wirtz as an important influence on his acceptance of his own sexuality: "paul was the first gay person i ever saw in real life. the gay people on tv were always very flamboyant, and until i met paul i didn't realize you could be gay and just be normal. he was the first person i saw who was like that, gay and just normal. he made me realize i didn't have to be afraid of it."