Cycling star Skinner’s pride in gay father
LUMBERING former political heavyweight Ed Balls failed to leave Strictly judges all shook up with his performance on the dance floor last night.
The ex-shadow chancellor sank to the bottom of the points table after performing a waltz with partner Katya Jones to Elvis’s Are You Lonesome Tonight.
Unimpressed Craig Revel Horwood said: “I thought it was a little pedestrian to be honest. You need to get some rise and fall in there, darling.”
But, Len Goodman said he was “pleasantly surprised”, while Bruno Tonioli called the dance “prim and proper” and “politically correct”.
Model Daisy Lowe is top of the leaderboard with a nearflawless waltz and 32 points. was really sad. It’s been enough time for keeping it hush now.”
Skinner, of Glasgow, won gold alongside Jason Kenny and Philip Hindes in the team sprint.
There was further velodrome glory when he took silver in the individual sprint after coming up against Kenny in an all-British final.
Skinner admitted there was a time when he felt awkward having his father Scott cheer- ing him on from the sidelines.
He said: “I feel bad saying it now, but I was always a little anxious about having a gay father watching.
“In the early years I definitely excluded Dad. I want to tell the story because I’m confident in my career and I’m at a point where if someone did say something negative, it’s no problem to me because I’m at the top of the pile.”
Skinner, whose parents split when he was young, couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t know his father was gay.
He added: “People often think that when your dad comes out, your house turns into a bad cabaret and glitter comes down from the ceiling.
“I mean, he did have a disco ball in the hall, but he was always just my dad.”
Skinner, whose brother Ray is also gay, decided that being open about his family would help to promote equality and acceptance.
He told The Gay Times: “The more people talk about it, rather than keeping it quiet like we did, the more the discussion moves forward.
“Especially coming straight from the Olympics where we’ve been competing against some countries where gay rights are atrocious, like Trinidad and Tobago.”
Earlier this week, Skinner became the first Scottish athl ete to have his medical records leaked by hackers.
The document suggested he was granted a therapeutic use exemption for the banned substance prednisolone.
There was no suggestion he had done anything wrong.