Swimmer Mark Foster: 'The reaction to coming out as gay has been brilliant. And I do have someone in my life.'

MARK FOSTER TALKS ON TV FOR THE FIRST TIME ABOUT HIS DECISION TO COME OUT AS GAY

Swimmer Mark spoke exclusively to us about why he has decided to publicly come out recently.

Asked why he chose to come out now, Mark said: 'If I look back, I first met my first partner when I was 21 years of age, I was in a relationship for 19 years, then I met somebody else and fell in love with them for seven years. To friends and family, I was out. It took me a long time to tell my mum, a couple of years anyway.'

'When I went to work, which was swimming, friends there and swimming colleagues, no one knew. I never shared it. I was completely Mark the swimmer there and Mark the real person when I came home.'

Talking about why he didn't feel comfortable talking about his sexuality before now, Mark explained: 'Going back to when I was a kid, being gay was wrong. Typically, you should meet a woman, get married, have kids, get a house and that’s the way it worked in a sense. That’s what you get taught. When I did meet someone and started have feelings towards men I was kind of going, well that’s wrong, you shouldn’t be having these feelings. I had girlfriends as well when I was younger, I just kind of knew what I preferred. I just got so used to tucking things away and hiding stuff away.'

Mark , who took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2012, continued: 'You get so used to not sharing your full self with people because you’re going to be vulnerable, and you’re afraid of what people might think, and you’re potentially afraid of what the outcome might be regarding work or other bits and pieces. I got used to being Mark the swimmer that stands on the block, trains really hard, breaking world records and win world championships. I never won the Olympics and I’m not saying had I been myself I would have won the Olympics but you just don’t know. I was always, was I afraid of being in the limelight a little bit more? Step into the limelight, people will see a little bit more of you.'

Mark also explained that a difficult year also played a part in his decision to talk about being gay for the first time, especially since losing his dad in the summer.

'A bit of a difficult year. Dad died in June, there was so many sorts of bits in pieces whereby I never talked about lots of stuff with him,' Mark said. 'He obviously knew and knew my partners, but there were some things I wished I had asked [for example] when mum and dad split up, what was it like for him?'

'End of last year was quite a difficult time. I split from my partner and had a break. All these things were going on.'

Mark, who is encouraging men and women to speak up about mental health issues, also spoke openly of having therapy, saying, 'For me, by sitting down and discussing with someone my inner secrets… I just chatted things through. I felt a weight coming off slowly.'

Mark said: 'In my private life, my friends and family have always known, but then over the Olympic games with Rebecca Adlington last year there was a sensationalism that me and her were having a [thing].'

Mark defended his decision not to say anything publicly at that time, saying, 'You don't want to be pushed.'

Now Mark is happy and reveals he's had a lot of support. 'The reaction has been brilliant. And I do have someone in my life,' Mark said.

Watch the video to see the full interview with Mark in full.