Brian Dowling: I was so fearful to come out as gay because of my religion – msnNOW

© Bang Showbiz Brian Dowling struggled to come out as gay because he was brought up as an Irish Catholic

Brian Dowling was so “fearful” to come out as gay.

The 44-year-old TV presenter – who was brought up as a Catholic in County Kildare, Ireland – told his family that he was gay just two days before appearing on ‘Big Brother’ back in 2001 but admitted he has “battled” with his sexuality because of his religion.

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He said: “I was so fearful. I was brought up Catholic. I still say that I am Catholic, I don’t go to church that often and we sadly lost my mum in 2018 and I suppose the fact that she’s not here anymore has made me question my faith. When you’re a gay man – or woman – and you’re Irish, I think it is something you battle with, the whole religious Catholic thing. But I think it was brave of me to do it. It’s a sin and I’m going to hell but how amazing is hell going to be with all these amazing people?”

The telly star – who following his win on ‘Big Brother’ went on to front shows such as ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ and special episodes of ‘The Real Housewives of Cheshire’ – has been married to dancer Arthur Gourounlian since 2015 but claimed that in the years since he found fame he has had a “love-hate” relationship with the gay community because of his demeanour.

Speaking on the ‘White Wine Question Time’ podcast, he told former ‘Loose Women’ anchor Kate Thornton: “I have had a love-hate relationship with the gay community and the gay press for such a long time where I was criticised a lot from the gay community for being so effeminate for being so camp and loud back in the day. I’d go out and drinks would be thrown over me. It was very strange. And I’ve always said ‘This is me’. I’m not saying ‘Everyone who is gay like me’ but people were very, very opinionated.”