“I Know 10 Or 12 Gay AFL Players” Reveals Jack Vidgen On I’m A Celeb…
Jack Vidgen, one of the stars on Australia’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, has revealed that he knows 10 or 12 gay Australian Football League players, news.com.au reports.
Vidgen, who made a name for himself on Australia’s Got Talent, was talking about homosexuality in sport with former AFL stars Travis Varcoe and Robert “Dipper” DiPerdomenico.
“I probably know about 10 or 12 footy players, I’d never say their name, that are gay but they wouldn’t come out,” Vidgen said. “It would be a really hard thing to go through in that industry.”
Varcoe, who hung up his boots last year, said it was “sad” that no player has come out so far, adding, “We have so much acceptance in our game for everything.”
Earlier in the show Vidgen told Dipper about his experience accepting his sexuality and coming out.
“I kinda always knew that I was attracted to guys,” the 23-year-old said. “I feel like I probably would have been ready to come out a bit earlier, but probably cause just everything that happened (winning Australia’s Got Talent) and being known in the public … it wasn’t going to be like ‘tell a few friends’ coming out.”
It wasn’t until Vidgen started dating another man when he was 19 that he decided to come out.
“I think that gave me the courage because we both came out together to our families and friends,” he said. “I think that helps having someone else to do it with.
“It becomes something in your head that’s dirty and disturbed,” Vidgen said. “You think something’s perverted when it really isn’t; it’s the absolute opposite.”
He described coming out as “one of the most incredible feelings of my life”.
Australian comedian, Joel Creasey, revealed in 2017 he’d had a casual sexual relationship with a closeted Sydney Swans (AFL) player. Even though the player made the first move, the relationship fizzled after a few months.
