'I'm not gay': Orange Is The New Black's Taryn Manning says she experimented but 'prefers men'

Orange Is The New Black star Taryn Manning has opened up about her sexuality in an interview with People Magazine and candidly revealed she has experimented with women in the past.

The actress, who plays Tiffany 'Pennsatucky' Doggett in the hit Netflix prison series, spoke to the magazine while promoting her new film, The Vault, which stars James Franco and Francesca Eastwood in the lead. In the movie, Manning plays Vee Dillon who is forced to rob a bank to save her brother.

She told the outlet, "I'm not gay, meaning I love men. I love gay people. I've experimented. It's good. I just prefer men." The 38-year-old also discussed her strained relationship with her family and revealed that "outside sources" have driven her apart from her mother.

She explained, "I lost my mother, not from death. The hardest part is that my mom is still alive but we're estranged. It's really sad to watch a beautiful relationship crumble over b.s."

The actress is still hopeful of a reconciliation with her family. "I feel really hopefully about things coming to an end that have been going on. I've lost a lot in my life. That is one of my biggest things, to reconcile with my family and for them to understand my side," she confessed.

Talking about forgiveness and self-love, the OITNB star told the Magazine, "The only way you can start with reconciliation is forgiving yourself. And that's number one, as cliche as that sounds. It's the most cliche, kind of nerdy thing. Like, 'You can't love anybody until you love yourself.' But it's true, you really can't."

"Forgiveness is another form of letting go. I think letting someone go and truly mean it, it's a boomerang and they come back around. Because true love always comes back around. And family love should come back around," the Netflix star added.