Ricky Martin’s father urged him to reveal his sexuality to his fans.
The “Livin' La Vida Loca” singer shared the story on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, telling the host that his father, Enrique, emboldened him to be his most authentic self.
But not everyone was so encouraging. Martin revealed that his team advised him to keep his sexuality a secret. "'This is gonna be the end of your career,'" he shared what he was told, per People. "'You don't have to tell the world. Your friends know, your family know. Why do you need to stand in front of the camera and talk about it?'"
But the 52-year-old’s father thought much differently, particularly after Martin welcomed his twin boys, Matteo and Valentino, in 2008 via surrogate.
"He said, 'What are you gonna [do], teach your kids to lie? You gotta be open. You gotta go out... I want to help you. How can we do this?'" Martin said. "And I'm like, 'All right, Dad, I'm working on it. Gimme a second. I don't know how. I don't know if it's through an interview. I don't know if I want to write a letter and tweet it. I don't know. Gimme a break. It'll come.'"
He later came out to the public in March 2010. He previously revealed his sexual orientation to his mother when he was 18, but it took her some time to adjust.
"She was concerned because she was, 'Oh my God, I just don't want you to [get] hurt and people out there are really cruel,' and so it took her a minute to accept it," he explained.
"But obviously when I did it, I made sure she was on an airplane on her way to see me. So, she was on her airplane, and I did what I did," he said. "I wrote a letter, and I tweeted it."
In addition to Matteo and Valentino, Marin and his husband, Jwan Yosef, also share two children, a daughter named Lucia and a son named Renn, both of whom were born via surrogate.
