Bella Thorne is in a polyamorous throuple: here's what that means

Bella Thorne has revealed she is in polyamorous throuple.

Over the weekend the 21-year-old former Disney child star shared an intimate snapshot to Instagram of herself and a mystery woman snuggling in bed.

"She’s very cute," Thorne captioned the shot. "First girl I have dated that’s camera shy."

The post seemed to hint that her new girlfriend has joined her throuple with Italian boyfriend Benjamin Mascolo, of the Italian pop group Benji & Fede

Thorne, who revealed earlier this year that she identifies as pansexual has been dating Mascolo since April.

And he was certainly approving of the post, commenting: “You girls are cute.”, which has since clocked up thousands of likes.

This isn’t the first time that Thorne has been in a polyamorous throuple.

She also dated musician Mod Sun and YouTuber Tana Mongeau at the same time, with both relationships coming to an end earlier this year.

READ MORE: 'Polyamory isn't abnormal – it could benefit couples more than they realise'

What is a polyamorous throuple?

Urban Dictionary defines a throuple as a ‘threelationship’, otherwise known as a relationship with three partners.

Polyamory is defined as “the state or practice of having more than one open romantic relationship at a time.”

Pansexual is described as being “one who can love sexuality in many forms. Like bisexuality, but even more fluid, a pansexual person can love not only the traditional male and female genders, but also transgendered, androgynous, and gender fluid people.”

Therefore a polyamorous throuple, and in Bella Thorne’s case, a pansexual throuple is a three-way relationships with people of any gender identity.

Unsurprisingly, people sometimes mistake throuple with threesome, but a throuple is a balanced, consensual, and committed relationship between three partners, rather than sex between three people.

READ MORE: Bride and groom fall in love with their bridesmaid and now live as a polyamorous threesome

Thanks to the recent increase in visibility of the sexual spectrum, the throuple is gaining more and more recognition, as are other forms of polyamorous relationships.

Earlier this year Willow Smith spoke out about her curiosity for having an unconventional romantic relationship involving multiple people.

Speaking on Facebook Watch series, 'Red Table Talk, the 18-year-old daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett-Smith, said she had researched polyamorous relationships after coming across a couple who followed this lifestyle on Instagram.

She said she would be happy to be in a “throuple” relationship with “one man and one woman”.

Some 4.2% of the UK’s young people (aged between 16 and 24 years old) identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to data from the Office of National Statistics. This is a higher proportion than any other age group.

Meanwhile, one study from healthcare company euroClinix found nearly a fifth of Brits would be open to polyamory.

READ MORE: This is what it's like to be in a three-way relationship

Bella Thorne isn’t the only celebrity who has opened up about being pansexual.

Earlier this month plus-size model Tess Holliday revealed she now identifies as pansexual.

The 33-year-old explained in an interview with NYLON magazine that she’s spent time reflecting on her sexuality and would consider a relationship with a woman, if she wasn’t happily married to husband Nick - who she wed in 2015.

Janelle Monae and Miley Cyrus have both previously admitted to being pansexual.