Pretty Little Liars actress Shay Mitchell on why she won't label her sexuality

The actress discusses a more fluid approach to sexuality

Shay Mitchell plays Emily in the hit series (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Shay Mitchell has spoken candidly about not labelling her sexuality.

The actress stars in the hit series Pretty Little Liars alongside Ashley Benson and Troian Bellisario. In the show, Mitchell’s character Emily is gay. In her personal life, Mitchell is currently in a relationship with a man but doesn’t apply labels to her sexuality, instead advocating a fluid approach.

“When I started, people were like, 'What are you?' I'm like, right now I'm dating a guy. I don't know what it's going to be in three years. You love who you love. Black, white, polka dot, that's what my dad always said,” she told Cosmopolitan. “I'm never going to label myself. I could be 50 and dating a woman and then what? I said I was straight and now I'm not?'”

The actress joins a number of high-profile individuals who have rejected categorising their sexuality such as Miley Cyrus, Kristen Stewart and St Vincent.

Last year, former Union J band member George Shelley publicly addressed his sexuality for the first time in a video message to fans in which he described labels as "old fashioned:.

“I’ve been reading a lot of speculation online as to whether I’m straight, or gay, or bi, and all these labels are a little bit old-fashioned, which is why I’m not going to label it myself,” he said.