If Wesley Crusher was one of your earliest television crushes, Wil Wheaton has a rather flattering update: he is enjoying meeting the men those young fans became.
In a September 29 interview with The Advocate, also published by Out, the 54-year-old actor described his delight when gay fans tell him about their childhood crushes.
He jokingly admires how well they have aged, affectionately referring to the men he meets as hot dads.
It is a funny exchange between people who have grown older together, even if one of them spent those formative years on a television screen.
Wheaton’s connection with gay fans goes back much further than this interview. Speaking to GayCalgary in 2012, he described feeling flattered that someone would consider him their ideal. He also spoke warmly about gay friends and their loving relationships, and about the importance of accepting people as they are.
The newer conversation offers a playful continuation of that connection. Fans remember the boy they watched growing up; Wheaton gets to meet them as adults.
His own life has moved through plenty of chapters, too. Wheaton is straight and married to Anne. On his personal blog, he wrote about celebrating their 26th wedding anniversary in November 2025.
Today, storytelling occupies much of his working life. In a September Reddit Q&A, he introduced himself as an author, narrator and host, looking back on playing Gordie in Stand by Me, Wesley in Star Trek: The Next Generation and a version of himself on The Big Bang Theory.
He also discussed his audiobook work and his fiction podcast, It’s Storytime With Wil Wheaton, which introduces listeners to writers whose stories he enjoys performing.
For longtime fans, those projects offer ways to keep following someone they first encountered decades ago. And for the gay men who finally get to tell him about that old crush, his response sounds wonderfully welcoming.
There are worse ways to discover that your childhood television crush remembers your generation fondly.
Was Wil yours—or was there another Star Trek actor you were watching more closely?
📷 @itswilwheaton
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