Former Nottingham Forest, Liverpool and Aston Villa attacker Stan Collymore has shut down an abusive message on social media with a surprising reply.
Collymore, who has been candid about his mental health struggles online, has had to deal with an array of abuse on X (formerly Twitter) over the years.
Recently, the 52-year-old has posted a series of videos showing his sessions on a treadmill as he battles his demons.
Under his latest post on X, which was published on Saturday, the former England international received a series of abusive and even homophobic replies.
One of those asked: "What's with the gay look with the t shirt around the neck? I’d really like to know…….."
Collymore quoted the post and wrote, simply: "I'm gay."
I'm gay. https://t.co/XXjc1yllCaDecember 30, 2023
The former striker, whose £8.5 million move from Forest to Liverpool broke the British transfer record, has close to 900,000 followers on X.
He was praised by many for his reply.
Collymore was diagnosed with clinical depression, stress and anxiety while still playing for Villa in 1999 and retired in 2001 following a short spell at Real Oviedo.
In his autobiography, he also revealed he had been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder.
He has used his account on X to raise awareness for depression and to help those struggling from related conditions in recent years.
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