Dame Kelly Holmes has openly spoken about her sexuality with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby on This Morning, after she came out as gay over the weekend. In an emotional interview, Phillip told the Olympian: "It's not that long ago that I sat in exactly the same place as you." The presenter came out as gay in February 2020 after previously thinking that he had been bisexual. Kelly made the announcement in an interview with the Sunday Times.
Kelly, Phillip and Holly all broke down in tears as Dame Kelly said that she felt a "mixture of relief and apprehension" following the announcement. Kelly described how although she had "been having interviews for years", she felt "scared" upon sitting on the This Morning sofa. "People don't realise how hard it is to say the word, 'gay'. It has been 34 years of being scared."
The sports star, 52, who has recently been proving her culinary skills on ITV's Cooking with the Stars, spoke to Phillip and Holly ahead of her new ITV documentary in which she talks about her sexuality. Whilst on the sofa, Phillip comforted Dame Kelly and shared with viewers how he had messaged her on Instagram after her announcement when she mentioned about the next 'scary phase' after opening up and he responded that everything would be ok.
Read more: Dame Kelly Holmes comes out as gay during Pride month
Dame Kelly, who was scared about what the Army would think of her if she revealed that she was gay, constantly pondered the 'what if's' - something which Phillip told Holly: "That's the conversation I had with you."
Dame Kelly described how it was important for her to reveal the news during Pride month, which celebrates and raises awareness about LGBTQ+ communities and will this year commemorate 50 years since the UK's first Pride march. Writing on Instagram as the initial Sunday Times article was published online, Kelly said: "This journey has been the hardest part of life. Living with any kind of fear is debilitating".
Several celebrities posted supportive comments, including comedian Alan Carr, professional dancer Oti Mabuse, music producer Naughty Boy, and drag queen Baga Chipz.
Dame Kelly became only the third woman in history and the first Briton since Albert Hill 84 years earlier to win the 800m and 1500m Olympic double at the Athens games in 2004. She has achieved seven gold, eight silver and four bronze Olympic, Commonwealth and European medals throughout her athletic career.
Kelly's documentary, Being Me, airs on ITV on Sunday, June 26 at 10.20pm
