Tommy gave an explosive interview on Friday afternoon in which he addressed the breakdown of his marriage, coming out as gay and his mental health struggles – he shared a message to wife Tina
Tommy Fleming has shared a message to his wife Tina and his friends and family after he came out as gay.
The singer gave an explosive tell-all interview to Newstalk on Friday in which he admitted his sexuality and that he had been living a double life away from his marriage.
His wife Tina confirmed over the weekend that the pair had separated in October, after 20 years of marriage.
It comes as gardaí confirmed they are investigating the leaking of an audio recording of a private conversation involving the singer, Tina and his stepdaughter Rebecca. The conversation spoke about his sexuality, stepping out on his marriage, his use of drugs and more.
He told Ciara Kelly that the fall out of the last couple of weeks has hurt his family as well as him.
“They’re all hurting at different levels in different ways,” he explained. “There’s anger, and I absolutely understand that anger. There’s regret. There’s a bucket full of words that you can use and emotions in here. The only thing I can say is, I’m absolutely remorseful and regretful for it, for any of the the hurt I’ve caused to the people I love in pursuing my truth or living my truth.
“I don’t seek forgiveness and I don’t expect it. But I would hope, if there is a God, I would hope and pray that there would be acceptance.”
When asked what he would say to Tina if she were listening, he continued: “I can’t undo the wrongs I’ve done. I can’t change the past. I can only look ahead and in order for me to survive, in order for me to have a life, I have to tell the truth.”
He also spoke about how he convinced himself he wasn’t doing wrong in straying in his marriage as he wasn’t having affairs.
“I was trying to convince myself it was alright because it was anonymous,” he said. “It wasn’t an affair in my head.
“In your head, you’re going, ‘why did I do that?’ You lie to yourself. You lie, you believe the lie.
“There was a yearning of the real me. I knew every day I walked in life I was not the real me. I was trapped within my own creation, within my own body of lies, within my own bubble that I created, and that was a big part of it.”
Elsewhere in the interview, he added that he wasn’t guilty about marrying Tina: “Honestly, no, because I had the bisexual phase and Tina knew, and that was the very first thing I said to her, it was the very first thing I said when we met that I had been in a relationship with a man that we’d broken up six months prior.”
However, he was firm that he had never put Tina at risk during their marriage.
“Absolutely not,” he said.
He also said he had been struggling with alcohol and substances as a “painkiller” for what he was going through.
“It was across a broad spectrum of prescription medication, illegal substances and alcohol,” he admitted. “All of the above, I dabbled with.”
If you are struggling with your mental health, you can ring Samaritans 24/7 on 116 123
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