Clay Aiken Says He Lost ’50 Percent’ of His Fans When He Came Out in 2008: ‘It Was Very Different Time’ (Exclusive)

When Clay Aiken came out to the world in 2008, the public didn’t react how they likely would today.

Shortly after the birth of his son, Parker, in August 2008, the American Idol alum came out as gay on the cover of PEOPLE. At the time, Aiken said he wanted to follow through with a promise he made to himself as a new dad.

“It was the first decision I made as a father,” Aiken, then 29, said at the time. “I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn’t raised that way, and I’m not going to raise a child to do that.”

Now 46, Aiken is reflecting on that moment with PEOPLE and says so much of his public persona revolved around the speculation about his sexuality. Though he’s glad he was able to clear that up — it came with a price.

“Back then it was a big deal,” says Aiken, who recently marked his return to music with Christmas Bells Are Ringing.

At the time, Aiken was starring on Broadway’s Spamalot, and he noticed a drastic change in ticket sales after he came out.

“The first four months that I was in, the show was selling out, standing room only. You can actually look at the ticket sales the week after that cover came out,” he says. “It went from selling very well to the week after the cover came out, the ticket sales dropped. Spamalot ended up closing a few months after that.”

“We are in a very different time,” he continues. “I lost maybe 50 percent of the fan base.”

Still, Aiken has no regrets, and he’s “thrilled” to know “that’s not the world we live in” anymore.

“A lot of people who come out now end up having boosts in popularity because of it… That’s mind-blowing to me because it’s the opposite of what happened when I came out,” he says. “But it means that there’s progress and it means that as a country, we’re headed in the right direction.”

On Nov. 22, Aiken released a holiday album after more than a decade away from music titled Christmas Bells Are Ringing. The album celebrated tradition and nostalgia with beloved holiday standards by greats like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Paul McCartney.

“I really wanted to do songs that people know Christmas is about. I mean, it is about nostalgia. It’s that time of year at the end of the year where we look back on the year that we’ve had and reflect, and we also like those memories from years past,” he says.

After coming in second place on Idol, Aiken toured nationwide and made his Broadway debut. He was also the first Idol alum to to have his first single debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, earn a platinum single and score a triple-platinum album.