Dame Kelly Holmes and Phillip Schofield shared an emotional moment as they broke down in tears over their coming out experiences on This Morning.
The 52-year-old Olympic champion came out as gay over the weekend in an article in the Sunday Mirror and will discuss her journey further in an ITV documentary airing next week.
During an interview on Monday’s This Morning, Dame Kelly – who was emotional after a clip from the film aired before she was introduced – and Phil opened up on their coming out experiences after he came out as gay during an episode of the show in February 2020,
Asked how she was feeling, she said: ‘A mixture of relief and apprehension I think. When it was announced in the Sunday Mirror, I was still in a bubble – I was at home, you’re on social media and the reaction was amazing, but still felt like it wasn’t the real world.
‘Then coming out today and sitting here now, it feels like the real world and it’s really hard, because this is such a big step for me to be open and honest with the true me. It’s still a bit scary.’
Phil told her: ‘One day, we won’t have to do these interviews, one day it won’t matter, one day you’ll just be able to be you and get on with your life.
‘However, we’re not quite there yet – but every single time somebody does this publicly and proves that it’s OK, then that makes it easier for other people. One of the reasons – there are many reasons, which we’ll come to.
‘One of the reasons – it was a very similar sort of thing for me, although mine happened almost by accident, I didn’t realise the reaction it was going to get. It does help other people.’
Dame Kelly broke down in tears as she opened up about her battle with self-harm, and Phil revealed an exchange they had on social media after she came out over the weekend.
He added: ‘You said yesterday in your Instagram that you were scared. I think I wrote back, “Don’t be scared because it’ll be ok”… How do you feel now?’
They both fought back tears as his co-host Holly Willoughby offered some supported, and Dame Kelly replied: ‘I am relieved to finally do it but it’s hard to unravel everything. I know that this’ll come gradually.
‘The response is really helping me… It’s that relief and final thing of releasing myself. I don’t feel like I’ve lived my life. I can honestly say that I don’t feel that I’ve ever been happy.’
Phil was still emotional when the show returned from an ad break as he and Holly moved onto a cooking segment and he admitted his nose was still running.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV.
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