British professional racing driver
Danny Watts has announced for the first time publicly that he's gay.
“It's not a decision I took lightly,”
Watts
told Badger GP. “This secret has been eating me up inside for
a while, and I can't hold it in any more. Something snapped in me
last year, and I began coming out to my friends. Now it's time for
the public to know.”
The 37-year-old Watts retired from
Strakka Racing last year after two class wins at Le Mans. He is
raising a son with ex-wife Fiona Leggate.
“Now that I don't have to think about
keeping my team and sponsors happy, I can do what's right for me,”
he said.
“I can only hope that people will
continue to treat me like a normal person,” Watts said. “I'm
still the same person I've always been. I'm just no longer living a
lie that I started to protect my career.”
Watts added that he'll become a charity
ambassador for Gay Racers, a queer motorsport group.