For more than 30 years, the Olympic gold medallist lived in terror of people discovering she was gay. This raw, brave and remarkable documentary shows how she finally went public – and why her coming out matters so much
I can be a bit cynical about Pride month, with its pink-washed corporate tie-ins and rainbow-coloured tat. But then a documentary such as Kelly Holmes: Being Me (ITV) arrives to serve as a vital reminder of what LGBTQ+ Pride is really all about. Holmes publicly came out as a gay woman just a week ago, in what appears to have been the culmination of a long and carefully considered process. This film follows her as she prepares to break the news, and explores some of the many reasons the double Olympic gold medallist felt unable to do so for more than 30 years.
“I’m a gay woman, but I’ve been unable to live my life authentically,” Holmes says to camera. Her nerves are visible and the emotion is raw; she cries often during the hour-long programme, and holds back tears many times again. It begins with scenes of adulation, following her triumph on the track at the Olympics in Athens in 2004, when 80,000 fans came out on to the streets to wave flags for her. A year later, she was made a dame. But, she explains, she was terrified to be in the spotlight, fearful that people might learn about her sexuality.
