Clare Balding: I’ve spoken too much about being gay
Clare Balding has admitted to feeling ‘exhausted’ at being constantly asked about her sexuality during interviews.
The presenter, who married her partner Alice Arnold earlier this year, said the negativity she has received in the past about discussing her sexuality has placed in a frustrating position.
She told PA: “I’m very aware that it’s important for people to see a couple in the mainstream. But it can get a bit exhausting. I don’t walk down the street saying, ‘Hi! I’m gay!’
“At the same time, I want to be one of the people who helps. What am I meant to do? I don’t know what the bloody answer is.”
She also drew comparisons between the questions she is asked and those pitched to other presenters.
She added: “I tell you what… I’m not going to talk in this interview about being gay. I suspect Gabby Logan isn’t asked about being married or being a mother.”
Balding, 44, who recently hosted coverage of the Boat Race, added: “I have never wanted children. It’s my choice, but of course it’s not something that’s going to happen by accident. Yes, it could happen if I wished it to.
“I have two nephews, a niece and eight godchildren, and I love that. But I don’t want kids. I just never had that urge. One of the many benefits of being gay is that people don’t assume you want children, so they don’t ask you.
“My brother Andrew’s relationship with his wife Anna Lisa is almost as long-standing as mine with Alice, and all they were ever asked is ‘When are you getting married?’ and ‘When are you having children?’. We never got that from anybody.”
Prime Minister David Cameron recently named Clare Balding as one of his ‘gay heroes’.
He said: “Everyone says Alan Turing, and of course he was an amazing man and I’ve seen The Imitation Game and I thought it was brilliant, but I’m going to go with Clare Balding.
