Jordan Steffy (Twitter)

A gay high school student who went viral this week when he was recorded punching a homophobic bully has said the incident occurred after “years and years” of build-up.

Jordan Steffy appeared on the Tamron Hall Show where he and his mother broke down in tears when speaking about the homophobic bullying he has endured.

He revealed that he shared a class with the bully but had never even spoken to him before their dramatic altercation last week.

Bullied gay teenager Jordan Steffy didn’t even know the bully’s name before their altercation.

“It was our same class hour, we had the same teacher and everything, but I didn’t know his name,” Jordan said.

“I just kind of saw him as a familiar face and he blended into the crowd.”

But that all changed when a friend of his sent him a screenshot of a Snapchat message the other boy had sent around.

It just makes me mad. I’m tired of it.

“It was a picture of me with the caption ‘I still hate gays though’ with a few emojis after that,” the openly gay teenager explained.

“It kind of hit me: I don’t even know who this is.”

Jordan walked into the classroom and approached the bully and showed him the screenshot.

When confronted, the bully asked Jordan: “What are you going to do about it?” Jordan proceeded to shove him and hit him several times.

His mother broke down in tears when speaking about the homophobic bullying.

Jordan’s mother appeared on the show with him and broke down in tears when asked by Hall how she felt about the exchange.

“It just makes me mad. I’m tired of it,” she said.

“I’m happy he stood up for himself. I’m not happy he was cussing like that, I don’t like that. I don’t like him hitting, but he knows, he had enough.”

Jordan was suspended over the fight and he is now withdrawing from the school and will be homeschooled instead.

After he broke down in tears on the show, the host Hall hugged him and told him: “You know that campaign, ‘It Gets Better’? You’ll win. We know it’s gonna be OK. You have this great mom and you have all of these people right here. We’re gonna keep track of you and we hope that – we know – that you’re going to pass on love and not hate.”

Jordan first shared a video of the fight on Twitter on November 9. It promptly went viral and has been liked more than 127,000 times.

He has been widely praised for standing up for himself – but many others have pointed out that he shouldn’t have had to.