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| Clare Balding: my grandmother thought being gay was 'disgusting' | Clare Balding: my grandmother thought being gay was 'disgusting' |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The TV presenter Clare Balding has revealed her grandmother told her she was "disgusting" and the pair did not speak for months after her homosexuality became public. | The TV presenter Clare Balding has revealed her grandmother told her she was "disgusting" and the pair did not speak for months after her homosexuality became public. |
| The broadcaster, who played a key role in the BBC's coverage of the London 1012 Olympics, also said she will go to Russia to cover the 2014 Winter Games despite controversy over the country passing what are widely seen as anti-gay laws. | The broadcaster, who played a key role in the BBC's coverage of the London 1012 Olympics, also said she will go to Russia to cover the 2014 Winter Games despite controversy over the country passing what are widely seen as anti-gay laws. |
| Balding, whose partner is the former newsreader Alice Arnold, was revealed to be gay about 10 years ago when a newspaper printed pictures of them together at a film premiere. | Balding, whose partner is the former newsreader Alice Arnold, was revealed to be gay about 10 years ago when a newspaper printed pictures of them together at a film premiere. |
| Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, she said the experience had been "kind of weird". Though her parents were aware of her sexuality, she had not yet told her grandmother. | Appearing on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, she said the experience had been "kind of weird". Though her parents were aware of her sexuality, she had not yet told her grandmother. |
| She told host Kirsty Young: "I said 'Grandma I need to talk to you' and she said 'Yes I should think you do'. "I said 'Have you seen the paper?' and she said 'Yes and I think it's disgusting'. | She told host Kirsty Young: "I said 'Grandma I need to talk to you' and she said 'Yes I should think you do'. "I said 'Have you seen the paper?' and she said 'Yes and I think it's disgusting'. |
| "I said 'What do you mean? The invasion of my privacy or my lifestyle choice' and she said 'Both' and I didn't talk to her for about six months after that, which was pretty difficult." | "I said 'What do you mean? The invasion of my privacy or my lifestyle choice' and she said 'Both' and I didn't talk to her for about six months after that, which was pretty difficult." |
| Balding grew up in a horse-training family and was an amateur flat jockey before joining the BBC, where she regularly presented racing and has worked on five Olympic Games. | Balding grew up in a horse-training family and was an amateur flat jockey before joining the BBC, where she regularly presented racing and has worked on five Olympic Games. |
| Asked by Young if she could work at the 2014 Games in Sochi with "a clear conscience", Balding said: "Absolutely, because I think it's hugely important that I do go." | Asked by Young if she could work at the 2014 Games in Sochi with "a clear conscience", Balding said: "Absolutely, because I think it's hugely important that I do go." |
| Asked if she should boycott the Games, she said: "It would make absolutely no difference at all to anyone in Russia would it?" She added: "I mean I didn't do the Open golf at Muirfield last summer, I didn't make a big song and dance about it but I felt morally I couldn't go to an all-male club and sell this great golf event when I knew I wouldn't be allowed there on any day of the week. | |
| "I will make a moral stand on things but in this instance the right thing to do is go." | |
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