This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield was left in tears as he spoke to Kelly Holmes after she came out as gay.
The host, 60, presented Monday’s episode (June 20) alongside Holly Willoughby as the pair welcomed the Olympic gold medallist into the ITV studio.
Kelly, 52, announced to the world in a Sunday Mirror exclusive that she is gay after previously “living in fear” about sharing her sexuality.
As Kelly struggled to hold back the tears, Phil admitted: “You said yesterday in your Instagram that you were scared, and I replied ‘Don’t be scared, it will be okay’.”
The choked-up presenter had to take a second as he began to cry.
(Image: ITV)
Gathering his words, he asked: “How do you feel now?”
The Olympic legend explained: “I am relieved to finally do it but it’s hard to unravel everything so I know the relief will come gradually.”
Speaking candidly to the presenters, things got emotional as Phil reflected on the time it was him in that position when he came out to the world in February 2020.
“It’s not that long ago that I sat in exactly that place and we said one day we won’t have to do these interviews, one day it won’t matter,” he recalled.
(Image: ITV)
The Dancing On Ice presenter explained that Kelly coming out will benefit several other people and will make it easier for them.
“However we’re not quite there yet, but every single time somebody does this publicly and make it’s okay and proves that it’s okay, then that makes it easier for other people,” Phil said.
Kelly confirmed that helping people was one of the reasons she decided to make her documentary, Kelly Holmes: Being Me, and because she “needed” to talk about it.
She added: “The documentary was a way of me articulating the fear I’ve had for so many years and allowed me to have a platform that hopefully educates and informs people of the complexities of being gay.”
The athlete spoke about the added pressures of hiding her sexuality when she was in the army because at the time, it was illegal to be gay.
(Image: ITV)
“I grew up with that fear in my head because I absolutely loved being a soldier, I did it for nearly 10 years but it was really difficult because there were interrogations that happened,” the former 800m runner confessed.
“I’ve never said that I’m a gay woman publicly. People don’t realise how hard it is to say that word – I’m not ashamed, I’ve been it since I was 18.”
At the end of the tearful segment Phil asked: “I’m going to ask this question and you can just nod your head, please tell me there’s someone special in your life?”
As she giggled, Kelly nodded her head as Phil responded “Good enough.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
