Gay Olympic Skier Secretly Dated Man Amid Miley Cyrus ‘Romance’
Gay Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy admits he dated a man during his ‘viral romance’ with Miley Cyrus RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Olympian has compared his own situation to a storyline from the blockbuster HBO Max series Heated rivalry, with main character Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams.
In the series, gay ice hockey player Hollander is “suddenly linked” to a famous woman named Rose Landry to mask his true identity.
And for Kenworthy, art imitated life a little too closely.
He explained: “Miley Cyrus was my own Rose, this famous person that I was suddenly connected to
“As much as I wanted it, because that’s the person you would want to be with if you were straight, someone who is successful, beautiful and talented, it’s not the same as being with a man.”
After winning a silver medal just days before Valentine’s Day at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Kenworthy, 34, publicly declared that Cyrus, 33, was his “dream date” and “celeb crush.”
The comments set tongues wagging around the world, leading to a period of intense speculation.
But behind the scenes, Kenworthy said the situation quickly became complicated.
He recalled: “It was surreal for a number of reasons, but I was also digging this deeper and deeper hole for myself.
“I really love her. But then there was some flirty texting and I remember thinking, ‘What am I doing? I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to keep waking up and lying.'”
At the time, he was exchanging texts with the Wrecking ball singer Kenworthy actually had a ‘secret relationship’ with a man.
He described “clandestine meetings and arrangements,” reflecting the on-screen romance between the characters Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov.
Reflecting on the Winter Games in Russia, which introduced strict anti-LGBTQ laws, Gus considered making a public declaration of love to his friend if he won gold.
“I wasn’t dating, and I wasn’t ready, but I had a boyfriend,” he recalls. “I had this dream that I would land the winning run, ski over to him and kiss him. And that would be my coming out to everyone, and my silent protest. But it didn’t happen.”
Kenworthy eventually came out as gay in 2015, with Cyrus ultimately becoming his biggest cheerleader. She also took to Instagram at the time to praise her “courageous” friend.
“Never have I been prouder to call @guskenworthy my boyfriend! (and he is one badass Olympic athlete),” she wrote.
“You have won so much more than any medal… You have won FREEDOM! I love you!”
Kenworthy also said that he felt a painful connection with another character in Heated rivalry, Scott Hunter, played by François Arnaud.
