Hollyoaks actor: I can understand why gay footballers don’t want to come out
Out Hollyoaks actor Kieron Richardson has said he can understand why gay footballers might be reluctant to come out, after he received homophobic abuse on Twitter when he was mistaken for an athlete of the same name.
He elaborated on the nature of the messages he received, saying some were death threats, and said based on that he can understand why it might be difficult for sportsmen to come out.
“It was like ‘You can’t play football you f*ggot’, all the usual phrases, but there was one that said, ‘The person that owns this account needs to die’,” he told Digital Spy.
“I’m not saying that every single football fan out there is a homophobe at all, it’s just as soon as my name is associated with football, this happens. I understand why footballers won’t want to come out.”
Richardson came out on This Morning in September 2010. He later said that he received 17,000 emails of support on the day the show was aired.
