Dame Kelly Holmes has revealed that she feels free for the first time in her life after coming out as gay. The two-time Olympic champion previously revealed that she hid the secret from the world for almost 34 years. Kelly Holmes first came out as gay while speaking during Pride Month and said she was gay at the age of 17 after kissing a fellow female soldier. While her family and friends were aware, the world did not know.
Dame Kelly Holmes said, “My life has changed. Since doing my documentary, called Being Me, and announcing publicly that I was a gay woman, a few months ago, it’s changed everything about me. I feel free, I’m happy for the first time in my life. I’ve met so many people too. Some people still don’t know, but fear is a debilitating factor of life. A lot of fear is irrational, but a lot of people have fear in their life and mine was worrying that I’d still be in trouble from the military because it was against the law to be gay while I was serving in the military.”
Kelly Holmes on coming out as gay
Kelly Holmes continued, “It’s ok to have the conversations we have and to just talk normally. When you’re having to constantly check yourself, everything that you say and do on a day-to-day basis, because you can’t talk about a partner, you can’t talk about where you went on holiday…”
She talked about physical stress back in early December. Holmes said, “I think there’s a big correlation between mental wellbeing and physical wellbeing. I get it in cold sores. I’ve been really ill this year – everybody has this perception that I’m this Superwoman because of my sporting attributes but no. I’ve been really under pressure mentally for lots of reasons and it comes out in my body for sure. I’ve had the worst back problems, I was in hospital yesterday having steroid injections in my back. Every illness that’s come out – as soon as I get Covid, I’m ill. I’ve got this chest infection, I’m ill. Cold sores, the lot. When people are stressed, by whatever means, it comes out in their physical being.”
Holmes once said, “There have been lots of dark times where I wished I could scream that I am gay – but I couldn’t. I needed to do this now, for me. It was my decision. I’m nervous about saying it. I feel like I’m going to explode with excitement. Sometimes I cry with relief. The moment this comes out, I’m essentially getting rid of that fear.”
