Ricky Martin revealed that his father encouraged him to come out as gay so he would not teach his children to ‘lie’ during a new interview on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live.
The 52-year-old singer admitted that he finally became able to open up about his personal life in 2010 with the advice of his father, former psychologist Enrique Morales.
The performer – who recently appeared in the comedy-drama series Palm Royale – also spoke about how his professional team had warned him to hide his sexuality during his early days as a performer.
Martin expressed that his former advisors stated that, if he were to come out publicly, the ensuing fallout would ‘be the end of your career.’
He added that they encouraged him not ‘to tell the world. Your friends know, your family know. Why do you need to stand in front of the camera and talk about it?’
Ricky Martin revealed that his father encouraged him to come out as gay so he would not teach his children to ‘lie’ during a new interview on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live; seen earlier this month
The singer then remarked that, while his team ‘didn’t understand the importance’ of him coming out, his father urged him to be honest about his sexuality for the sake of his children.
The former Menudo member welcomed his twin sons Matteo, 15, Valentino, 15, via surrogate in 2008, and he also shares daughter Lucia, 5, and his youngest son Renn, 4, with his ex-husband, Jwan Yosef.
Martin recalled: ‘(Morales) said, “What are you gonna (do), teach your kids to lie? You gotta be open. You gotta go out… I want to help you. How can we do this?”‘
‘I’m like, “All right, dad, I’m working on it. Gimme a second. I don’t know how. I don’t know if it’s through an interview. I don’t know if I want to write a letter and tweet it. I don’t know. Gimme a break. It’ll come,”‘ he said.
The singer had come out to his mother, Dona Nereida Morales, when he was just 18 years old, but he admitted that she needed time for the news to sink in.
Martin recalled that she was particularly ‘concerned because she was, “Oh my God, I just don’t want you to hurt and 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 airplane on her way to see me. So, she was on her airplane, and I did what I did,’ he added.
The Livin’ La Vida Loca singer made the news about his sexuality known to the public through a letter that was shared on his official website in 2010.
The performer – who recently appeared in the comedy-drama series Palm Royale – also spoke about how his professional team had warned him to hide his sexuality during his early days as a performer; seen in February
The 52-year-old singer admitted that he finally became able to open up about his personal life in 2010 with the advice of his father, former psychologist Enrique Morales
The former Menudo member welcomed his twin sons Matteo, 15, Valentino, 15, via surrogate in 2008, and he also shares daughter Lucia, 5, and his youngest son Renn, 4, with his ex-husband, Jwan Yosef; they are seen in 2019
The Livin’ La Vida Loca singer made the news about his sexuality known to the public through a letter that was shared on his official website in 2010; seen in February
The Grammy Award-winning performer then remarked that he was immediately elated to have been able to reveal his sexuality to the public.
‘I wish I could come out 20 times. It felt amazing. Of course, I started crying like a baby,’ he stated.
Martin humorously added that he wanted to share emotional weight of the moment with his close associates.
‘You know, I pressed send and I was like, “Oh, that’s it?” My assistant who’s still my assistant, Paco, he was next to me and I’m like, “I think I need a hug,”‘ he recalled.