Ian Thorpe: Dating has been a nightmare since I came out as gay

PinkNews logo surrounded by illustrated images including a rainbow, unicorn, PN sign and pride flag.

Australian Olympian Ian Thorpe has said he has had a ā€œnightmareā€ dating since coming out last year.

Thorpe came out in an interview with Michael Parkinson, publicly revealing his sexual orientation for the first time.

Now, a year on, he reflects on entering the world of dating, which he says is a new experience.

Ian Thorpe5

He says he has struggled to find ā€œnormal peopleā€ in the dating scene, and that he has avoided using dating apps.

Speaking to Sunday Style, he said: ā€œDatingā€™s been a lot harder than I thought it would be.

ā€œItā€™s an absolute mess out there! Iā€™m like, ā€˜Where are all the normal people?ā€™ Iā€™ve never really dated, so Iā€™ve come in being almost completely blindsided by this.

ā€œI think if someone puts an effort into a date, then full points ā€“ itā€™s not like Iā€™m a hard marker. But there are some nut cases. Itā€™s just a bit weird.ā€

He added: ā€œBut thatā€™s the dating scene ā€“ I say it and I laugh and Iā€™ve got a smile on my face, so itā€™s not that bad.ā€

Of avoiding dating apps, he added: ā€œIā€™ve mostly met great guys but, occasionally, Iā€™ve met a couple of douche-y guys as well.

ā€œItā€™s enough motivation for me to want to settle down with someone away from that scene.ā€

Despite all of this, Thorpe says he has ā€œhad a really great yearā€.