Broadcasting veteran Sir Michael Parkinson quizzed Australian five time Olympic gold medallist Ian Thorpe.
After years of endless speculation Thorpe, 31 has found the courage to come out of the closet speaking to talk show legend Sir Michael Parkinson.
“I’m comfortable to say I’m a gay man,” says the Olympian. ”I thought the lie had become too big.” Struggling to find the right words he confesses, “I don’t want people to question my integrity.”
In the paid tell all confessional interview Thorpe discussed how he battled depression and alcoholism. At 19 Thorpe was prescribed anti-depressants, but he still felt miserable. This is when he turned to alcohol and began to self medicate. “And I have to say, that turning up with a hangover is a lot easier than what it was to turn up completely depressed,” he candidly told Parkinson.
In his auto biography – This is Me, Thorpe catagorically states – ‘for the record I’m not gay, and all my sexual experiences have been with woman’. But confessed to Parkinson that he had felt unable to come out. ‘I wanted to make my nation proud of me. Part of me didn’t know if Australia wanted it’s champion to be gay. But, I’m telling not only Australia, I’m telling the world that I am’.
Thorpe was reportedly paid NZD$400,000 for the interview.
Article | Tux Hika
