How Rock Hudson kept his gay life secret is revealed by the man he called his 'one true love' as he breaks his silence describing how the pair hid their relationship to protect the image of the Hollywood star

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Rock Hudson once called him his 'one true love,' and now Lee Garlington is opening up about his three year relationship with the iconic Hollywood actor - and the lengths they went to in order to keep his sexuality a secret.

Garlington says he was an extra on a movie set when he first decided to check out Hudson, having heard rumors the star was gay, but had to wait an entire year until he heard from the star.

'I think he had me checked out,' says Garlington in an interview with People.

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Lee Garlington is opening up about his secret gay relationship with Hollywood star Rock Hudson (above with James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor on the set of Giant)

Hudson  was briefly married to Phyllis Gates (wedding photo above) from 1955 to 1958

Garlington says the first meeting with the actor was a little nerve-racking, and that nothing happened other than the two having a beer, but soon they were spending all their time together.

'I'd come over after work, spend the night and leave the next morning,' says Garlington. 

'I'd sneak out at 6am in my Chevy Nova and coast down the street without turning on the engine so the neighbors wouldn't hear. We thought we were being so clever.'

Garlington says he would sneak over to the Hudson's house (above with friend Doris Day) after work, and leave first thing in the morning

As for social events, he says the two would just each bring a date so people did not know they were in fact dating. 

This lasted for three years, from 1962 until 1965, and while their sneaking around seemed to work for awhile, Hudson became concerned after learning that a female fan had broken into his home as he had photos of Garlington, a stockbroker, in his bedside table.

'She didn't find them, but it shook him up,' say Garlington. 

'He realized he was vulnerable. He put gates on the house after that.'

Soon after the couple parted ways, but Garlington reveals he had no idea how much the actor cared for him until he read his biography, released after he died of AIDs in 1985, in which he called him his 'true love.'

'I broke down and cried,' he says. 

'I just lost it. He said his mother and I were the only people he ever loved. I had no idea I meant that much to him.'

Garlington says Hudson (left with Taylor, right with Marilyn Monroe) would being a female date whenever they went out

Hudson, who was briefly married to Phyllis Gates from 1955 to 1958, would never publicly come out of the closet before his death, though many of his closets friends, including Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe, were said to have known about his lifestyle.

The actor, whose breakout role came opposite Taylor and James Dean in the 1956 film Giant, for which he would go on to be nominated for an Oscar, would have other relationships with men over the course of his life, most notably Marc Christian.

Christian, who met Hudson in 1982, would later sue the actor's estate after his death and win $5.5million after claiming he never informed him that he had AIDs, and continued to have sexual contact with him after he was diagnosed. 

More of Garlington's interview, as well as one with Hudson's former costar and friend Doris Day, can be found in this week's issue of People.