Olympic free-skier Gus Kenworthy said
in a Rolling Stone interview that he sees CNN anchor Anderson
Cooper as a “father figure.”
Kenworthy, who won the silver medal at
the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, took home a silver medal
at last week's X Games.
Kenworthy, who came out last year, said
that it was “touching” to have his mother, boyfriend and agent
rooting for him in the stands.
“[E]veryone I looked up to growing
up, they would show their girlfriend on TV – you know, Simon
Dumont's girlfriend, or Tanner Hall's girlfriend, or whatever,”
Kenworthy
said. “I was just kind of bummed that it was something that
I'd never have. I felt like I was never going to be confident and
authentic and introduce someone as my boyfriend to the reporters and
have him on TV. It was really special to want to do that and be happy
about it. It was amazing. I looked up at the screen and saw Matt at
the bottom. And it was touching being there with my mom, my boyfriend
and my agent – my little support team.”
(Related: Gus
Kenworthy, Matthew Wilkas share New Years kiss.)
He also discussed his relationship with
Anderson Cooper: “He's sort of turned into a father figure to me.
He reached out and offered advice after I came out. Basically, he
said, 'If you need anything, just ask. I understand what it's like to
be out in the public eye.' He said, 'You're a great kid.' So he's
been really supportive. They [co-hosts Cooper and Kathy Griffin]
arranged for me to be on the show for New Year's Eve and it was one
of the most surreal experiences: to be a skier from a small town and
co-hosting a ball drop in Times Square was insane. It was out of the
realm of anything I thought was possible. We got to overlook a sea of
people. It was completely insane.”