Dame Kelly Holmes reveals she only came out to friend of 3 decades Sally Gunnell at Queen’s Platinum Jubilee-Charlotte Manning-Entertainment – Metro

Dame Kelly appeared on Friday’s Loose Women (Picture: ITV)

Dame Kelly Holmes has admitted she’d never told anyone in the athletics industry about her sexuality until opening up to friend Sally Gunnell, just weeks ago. 

The 52-year-old Olympic champion, who first realised she was gay aged 17, shared the news last weekend in a moving interview with the Sunday Mirror. 

On why she had decided to come out now, she explained she ‘needed to do this now, for me’. ‘Sometimes I cry with relief,’ she told the publication.

‘The moment this comes out, I’m essentially getting rid of that fear.’

Dame Kelly has been speaking openly about her journey with her sexuality in the days to have followed and appeared on Loose Women on Friday lunchtime. 

But she shared just how quiet she kept her identity as a gay woman, and only began to start sharing her truth more widely ahead of her upcoming documentary.

She told the panel: ‘I’ve literally only told Sally Gunnell, and that was at the Jubilee, I’ve known Sally since 1993.

The documentary, Kelly Holmes: Being Me, which is set to air on Sunday night, is what prompted her to tell her long-term pal.

Dame Kelly, who has been branded an ‘inspiration’ for sharing her story, has been blown away by the reaction since and revealed her journey has been recorded in the one-off. 

Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV.

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