Colin Jackson has come out as gay.
The BBC presenter and former Olympic hurdler opened up about his sexuality on the show ‘Rainbow Heroes’, which airs on Swedish channel SVT and revealed he told his parents 11 years ago after a former partner sold a story about their relationship to a newspaper.
Colin, 50, said: "I was waiting for them in the kitchen. They walked in and they sat down.
"My mother could see my face was quite distraught. It didn’t phase them at all.
"I said ‘it’s in the paper about me and this bloke.’ It didn’t phase them at all.
"My mum went first of all ‘is the story true?’
"And I said ‘it’s true, so it’s not like I can deny it.’ And then she went ‘well, why are people so disgraceful?’
"I just realised, I’ve got the best parents."
Although Colin told his parents the truth, he publicly denied the story and revealed he has only decided to open up now because it wouldn’t be "sensationalised".
When asked by former athlete Kajsa Bergqvist, why he had decided to reveal all, Colin – who won a silver medal at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games for Great Britain – answered: "Because you asked! There’s no better reason.
"The way you asked me was a whole storytelling kind of thing and you were just interested in the way it affected me sport-wise, emotionally and my preparation.
"Lots of people who’ve asked before about it have wanted it sensationalised."
Colin Jackson comes out as gay
