Olympic boxer and Strictly trailblazer Nicola Adams clarifies she’s a lesbian, not bisexual
Nicola Adams has come out as a lesbian (Twitter/@NicolaAdamsOBE)
The Olympic boxer and Strictly Come Dancing trailblazer Nicola Adams OBE has come out as a lesbian after years of identifying as bisexual.
Adams made headlines last week when it was announced she would be part of Strictly‘s first ever same-sex dance pairing in the upcoming season.
With news reports alternately describing her as a bisexual and a lesbian, the 37-year-old has now clarified her sexuality, announcing to her followers on social media: “I’m lesbian not bi, just saying.”
Adams accompanied the announcement with a video of her lip-synching the lyrics to the song “Gay” by Whitey: “B*tch I’m gay, I can’t even think straight.”
I’m lesbian not bi, just saying ? ?️? pic.twitter.com/1FBIuAd4fK
— Nicola Adams (@NicolaAdamsOBE) September 6, 2020
The flyweight champion first came out as bisexual at the age of 15. She opened up about the experience in an interview with GQ in 2016, describing how anxious she was to tell her family.
“It was quite a scary thought for me at the time. I knew one other person in my school who was the same and we talked. We hadn’t come out,” she recalled.
“You never know how the family is going to react, so I was nervous. Mum was in the kitchen washing up and I was like, ‘I’ve got something to tell you.’
“I was so nervous, I was really sweating, and she says, ‘What’s wrong?’ And I was just like, ‘I’m bisexual.’ And she was like, ‘OK, put the kettle on.'”
Nicola Adams touched on her sexuality again in an interview with Vogue, explaining that it has never impacted her boxing career.
“No one’s ever really cared about me being bisexual and I only came out because I had always been out, it’s just the general public didn’t know,” she said.
“I’m quite fearless. I’m like, let’s just go out there and do this and see what happens.”
Adams has been in a relationship with the beauty blogger Ella Baig for the past two years and the couple appeared together on Celebrity Gogglebox during lockdown.
Her coming out was met with a flood of congratulations, including from the new CEO of Stonewall, Nancy Kelley.
