Pass the tissues!
Both Dame Kelly Holmes and Phillip Schofield were reduced to tears this morning after sharing their experiences with coming out.
Two-time Olympic gold champion Kelly Holmes came out yesterday to open arms; with stars like Alan Carr, Fearne Cotton and Ru Paul’s Drag Race star Baga Chipz sharing congratulatory comments and reactions to Holmes’ Instagram post.
Just a day later, the 52-year-old middle-distance athlete appeared on This Morning, where she discussed the momentous occasion with hosts Schofield, 60, and Holly Willoughby, 40.
After detailing how yesterday’s announcement didn’t seem real, mainly due to it being online, Holmes noted how “it’s really hard” and “a bit scary” to talk about her sexuality despite her years of interviews.
“I needed to talk about this for myself and my own wellbeing, and my own mental health,” she told Schofield, who quite literally sat in her seat when he came out back in 2020.
She continued: “The documentary was a way of me articulating the fear I’ve had for so many years and to allow me to have a platform to hopefully educate and inform people of the complexities of maybe being gay as well. I’ve never said that before – that I’m a gay woman – publicly on TV.
“People don’t realise how hard it is to say that word. I’m not ashamed and I’ve been it since I was 18, but it’s really hard when you’re documenting different parts of your life that you’ve had to keep inside.”
Congratulations to Dame Kelly Holmes on coming out as gay. 🏳️🌈
Kelly's story shows that overcoming stigma to live proudly and authentically can take decades, and at huge personal cost.
We need to fight prejudice at every corner so that all LGBTQ+ people are free to be.
— Stonewall (@stonewalluk) June 19, 2022
Holmes joined the British Army at the age of 17, where she would stay for almost 10 years. While grappling with the typical hurdles the Army throws at you, Holmes was also hiding her sexuality.
“You were read the rules of homosexuality in the army – that it was illegal to be gay – and yet you can’t change who you are. So I grew up with that fear in the head because I absolutely loved being a soldier in the army. It was something that I really wanted to do,” she explained during a conversation that saw both Holmes and Schofield share a teary moment or two.
“‘I was in there for nearly 10 years and yet I couldn’t express that. It was really difficult, because there was interrogation that happened.”
She continued: “People were tipped off, the Royal Military Police would come into your barracks and literally turn everything upside down, take everything out, you’d be left with your belongings laying around.
Happy for Dame Kelly Holmes ❤️. #Pride #PrideMonth pic.twitter.com/RIlLl6Jf2G
— Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu (@SholaMos1) June 19, 2022
“They were trying to find any evidence you might be.
“If you got tipped off… you’d put everything into a box that wasn’t anything to do with your sexuality, into a box and hide it in the boot of a car because you don’t want to risk being court marshalled.”
Holmes realised in December 2020 that something had to change.
Even though it’s ludicrous that it’s still a thing, it’s wonderful that Dame Kelly Holmes, one of our greatest ever athletes, has found the courage to share her feelings. Proud too that @goalhangerfilms are making her documentary, soon to be aired. https://t.co/tkTfiXjZT5
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 19, 2022
With tears in her eyes once more, she said: “But I became a self harmer, I didn’t want to be here frankly at some points in my life. I’ve been in a bad way a lot and in 2020 I had a really bad breakdown. I knew if I couldn’t release it, then I didn’t know what I was going to do, so I had to do it.”
Now she feels “relieved” and ultimately thinks she can be happy.
Related links:
- Double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes flooded with support after announcing she is gay
- ‘I promised Gemma Collins my sperm, but now I want to be a gay, single dad’
- Chris Evans hits out at nations which have banned Lightyear over same-sex kiss
