Singer Ricky Martin Reveals Father’s Role In His ‘Gay’ Declaration
Singer Ricky Martin recently shared that his father played a significant role in his decision to come out as gay. He mentioned that his father encouraged him to be honest to avoid setting a bad example for his children.
Despite advice from his team against going public, Martin officially came out in 2010 at the age of 38 through a letter on Twitter.
This decision was influenced by his father’s guidance, even though it was not supported by his professional team. During an interview on Sirius XM’s Andy Cohen Live, Martin revealed that his team had advised him against sharing his sexuality publicly, as they believed it was unnecessary since those close to him already knew.
“They didn’t understand the importance of it. Now I see it. I understood before they did how important it is, not only for me, but to be a spokesperson.”
Palm Royale star Martin explained how his father was a psychologist and he told him “Rick, you need to come out”.
“Especially when I became a father, he said ‘what are you going to teach your kids, to lie?’,” Martin said.
Martin is the father of twin sons Matteo and Valentino, who were born through gestational surrogacy in August 2008. He also has a daughter named Lucia and a son named Renn with his former husband, Jwan Yosef.
The singer and actor said: “When I told my mum when I was 18 years old, she was concerned because she said ‘oh my God, I just don’t want you to hurt. People out there are really cruel’ – and so it took her a minute to accept it.
“But obviously when I did it, I made sure she was on an aeroplane on her way to see me. I did what I did, I wrote a letter and I tweeted it.
“I wish I could come out 20 times, it felt amazing. I started crying like a baby.”
In 2018, Martin told Attitude magazine that he had spent years avoiding even platonic relationships because he feared people would find out he was gay.
“I wasted so much energy trying to manipulate my sexuality,” he said.
