Dame Kelly Holmes shares her extraordinary story, from serving in the British Army under a ban on being gay, to becoming a double Olympic champion. Speaking candidly with Nicola Adams, Dame Kelly talks about the fear of being outed, the trauma of hiding her identity and the toll it took on her mental health. She shares her pride about the moment she finally came out publicly. Presenter: Nicola Adams. Producer: Jennifer Nelson. Sounds Producer: Tom Ryan. Executive Producer: Emma Clements....
Jun 25, 2025•27 min
Taking a look at LGBTQ+ issues in sport. Double Olympic gold medal winner Nicola Adams is joined by inspirational people from different sporting backgrounds to chat about their careers and their experiences of being in the LGBTQ plus community. Presenter: Nicola Adams. Producer: Jennifer Nelson. Sounds Producer: Tom Ryan. Online Producer: Rachael Smith. Executive Producer: Emma Clements. Commissioning Editor: Alistair Miskin.
Jun 25, 2025•2 min
When it comes to the ice, Conor McDermott-Mostowy is fast – like, really fast! A national speed-skating champion and a member of US Speedskating who has won medals across the world, the American knows all about what it takes to compete at the top-level – and how to do it while balancing his sport with a university degree. Conor came out publicly in 2021 – and now he’s here with us on the podcast to talk more about his sporting career and his journey with his sexuality. We talk about all sorts of...
Mar 27, 2024•34 min
You may well have seen Nick Ransom reporting on Sky, ITV, BBC and plenty of other outlets – covering everything from the footballing stories of Afghan refugees to LGBTQ+ representation in the media. He’s also worked as a producer, bringing together content for events like the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, Wimbledon, the Euros and more – basically, this is someone who lives and breathes sport. It’s no real surprise that Nick ended up on telly – in fact, he basically spent his childhood banging ...
Mar 21, 2024•34 min
Big games deserve the big build – and that’s what John Reavey does when it comes to the Premier League. The director and creative producer is responsible for some of the video packages that you’ve seen hyping a number of the beautiful game’s massive matches – including the Manchester Derby and the start of the new season. It’s not just there that you’ll have seen his work either – from a West Ham kit launch to Anita Asante’s retirement to a documentary on out gay footballers, John has spent year...
Mar 20, 2024•37 min
We feature professional wrestling on the podcast a lot – but this is only the second time that we’re speaking to someone from the world of freestyle wrestling. And honestly, what better way to do it than with Samantha Stewart?! The Canadian is a multiple-time medallist and a Pan-American champion who has been involved in the sport for more than twenty years – and has seen it take her right around the world. There’s a world championship bronze at Oslo in her trophy cabinet from 2021, along with a...
Mar 13, 2024•37 min
‘It’s my church’ – that’s how Lucy Clark has previously described her love of football, and the meaning that she attaches to her involvement with the beautiful game. Her appointment at the end of January as the new manager at Sutton United Women was therefore not just a moment of personal achievement, but a landmark for the game as well – with Clark becoming the first transgender woman to manage in the top five divisions of the UK women’s game, just years after she became the football’s first tr...
Mar 06, 2024•39 min
When Robbie Manson announced that he was hanging up his oars ahead of the Tokyo Games, he’d already achieved a bucket-load of amazing sporting achievements. The New Zealander had competed at back-to-back Olympics in London and Rio, had secured a spot for Tokyo – and, with multiple World Rowing Cups and a World Rowing Championship bronze medal in 2015 under his belt, no-one would have blamed him for wanting to do something new. But as much as he enjoyed coaching, something about the sport kept pu...
Feb 28, 2024•36 min
If you were watching professional wrestling in the mid-2010s, you’d have seen Gabbi Tuft in action – where she was better known as WWE superstar Tyler Reks. There were matches at the Royal Rumble, Survivor Series, appearances on many of the WWE’s flagship shows – but it was only when wrestling came to an end that Tuft was able to become her authentic self as a trans woman. She shared her story publicly in 2021 – and one look at her Instagram now shows Gabbi sharing her love for fitness, and teas...
Feb 21, 2024•36 min
For as long as Chris Paouros can remember, she’s been a proud supporter of Tottenham Hotspur. But while she’s always loved her football team, she’s not always been sure that football has loved her back – which is why she’s spent years trying to transform the game into somewhere that everyone feels welcome. Her CV is formidable enough – a vice-chair and trustee at Kick It Out, a Board Member at the Football Supporters’ Association, a Supporters Representative on the FA Council, and the co-chair a...
Feb 14, 2024•34 min
Take a look at the CV of Jason Webber, and you’ll see that a passion for equality and diversity is burned into everything does. For more than a decade, he was a campaign co-ordinator with Show Racism the Red Card – and since 2020, he’s been a key part of trying to make the beautiful game something for everyone in Wales as the senior EDI Manager at the Football Association of Wales. That love of the beautiful game runs deep in this man – with stints as an Academy Coach at Cardiff City and Merthyr...
Feb 07, 2024•38 min
If there’s anyone who knows about what it takes to make football inclusive, it’s James Laley. As the founder of Rainbow Blades, he’s helped embed diversity in the heart of what Sheffield United does, and it’s not just us saying that either – as James has been recognised not once but twice as this year’s Football v Homophobia Awards. So, we felt it was the perfect time to get James onto the podcast to talk about his journey in football, and the difference he’s making in the beautiful game. We cha...
Jan 31, 2024•36 min
In a way, Mikey Connor has his nan to thank for his love of football. It was her who took him along to Everton games, who encouraged him to give the game a go, and told him that he should give refereeing a go as well. So really, it’s her who Mikey has to thank for his love of the beautiful game which – by his own admission – is now a sport that he absolutely can’t live without. As a former semi-pro ‘keeper, he’s done it as a player – and now, he’s making his way up through the pyramid as a refer...
Jan 24, 2024•38 min
There are so many strings that Pollo Del Mar has to their bow that it’s hard to know where to begin! A performer, journalist, activist, philanthropist and campaigner – but our interest today is in Pollo’s position as one of the most prominent LGBTQ+ wrestling personalities out there today. First as a wrestling journalist, Pollo began participating in wrestling personally – as the host of EFFY’s Big Gay Brunch and a manager in various promotions across the West Coast and beyond as well, including...
Jan 17, 2024•37 min
With a mother and a father who amounted to bowls royalty, it’s really no surprise that David Gourlay found his way into the sport. But David was determined to make his own way in bowls, and has amassed a whopping seven world indoor titles – including the 1996 World Indoor Singles Championship, as well as three World Men’s Indoor Pairs Championships and three World Mixed Indoor Pairs Championships. And as if success as a player wasn’t enough, David also coached Scotland’s bowls players to four me...
Jan 10, 2024•34 min
To say that Ellia Green is an incredible athlete would be a dramatic understatement. As a kid, it was athletics – and particularly sprinting - that Ellia excelled at, competing at World Junior Championships, all with the encouragement of an amazing mum who was all in on supporting their journey. Ellia ended up switching to rugby sevens – and in 2016, they were part of the Australian team that took gold at the Olympics in Rio in the first time that the sport had ever taken place at a Games. It wa...
Jan 03, 2024•32 min
2023 is almost at an end – and in many ways, this has been the biggest year that the BBC’s LGBT Sport Podcast has ever had. More guests telling more stories in more places and more ways than ever before – so to round out the year, we thought we’d remind ourselves of some of the most memorable moments that we’ve had on the podcast between January and December. World Cup winners, Olympic gold medallists, rugby and football internationals, wrestling superstars, folks who came out for the first time...
Dec 27, 2023•39 min
John-Edward Heath is someone who lives and breaths sport. A powerlifter, a snowboarder, a Crossfit competitor and an adaptive athlete with dreams of medalling on the grandest stages of them all – John-Edward is a man with big ambitions and the drive to match. But he’s also a man who has had to overcome extraordinary obstacles. As a child, he experienced homelessness; as a gay Marine, he was outed; he had to deal with the trauma of a partner and a best friend taking their own lives; and, after be...
Dec 20, 2023•36 min
It was one year ago, almost exactly to the year, that Adam Bolt made his debut on this podcast. And since then, it’s fair to say that the British grappler has gone from strength-to-strength in a way that not even he thought would be possible. The Doncaster native has had millions of views across social media from people eager to hear more about his inspiring story outside of the ring – while inside the squared circle, he’s claimed the UK’s first-ever Pride title after main-eventing the WAW Pride...
Dec 13, 2023•39 min
When Jamie Ayshford dropped us a message, asking to come on to talk about the joys of spin, we were always going to say ‘yes’ to having him on. Partly, it’s because we’re always passionate about covering a sport or type of activity that we haven’t done before – and partly, because Jamie is so blinking passionate about it! He credits it with helping him with his mental health and empowering to accept who he is as an LGBTQ+ individual – and that’s the story that you’re going to hear over the cours...
Dec 06, 2023•33 min
It’s hard to put into perspective the things that Hedvig Lindahl has been able to accomplish in the beautiful game. With nearly two-hundred caps for Sweden, she is – by some distance – the most-capped Swedish goalkeeper of all-time. Her international career has seen her reach the World Cup Final in 2003, along with two Olympic silver medals, two World Cup bronzes and three bronzes from the European Championships – while her domestic career includes two WSL titles with Chelsea, along with the Sup...
Nov 29, 2023•38 min
It’s been more than a year since Jake Daniels made history. Still just a teenager, the Blackpool player came out publicly as gay – and become the first active British male footballer to come out while still playing since Justin Fashanu. Life has been a whirlwind for Jake since then – and we’re delighted that he’s found the time to join us on the podcast for an episode that we know so many of you have been desperate to hear. And this isn’t just an episode about Jake’s decision to come out – but a...
Nov 22, 2023•28 min
There’s nothing better than getting to take this show on the road! And that’s what we’re celebrating on the podcast today with a bumper compilation episode, looking at some of the best people and places that we’ve been able to take the show to since 2018. From the beaches of Cornwall to Wembley Way, to one of the UK’s most iconic cricket clubs to a training centre for the fastest-rising British wrestling talent, this special show highlights some of the amazing ‘out and about’ stories that we’ve ...
Nov 22, 2023•40 min
We last had Richard on the podcast for our 50th episode – and at the time, we described him as a modern-day James Bond – a racing driver with a doctorate for Cambridge who also fenced at the international level for England and Great Britain. Since then, he’s gone from strength-to-strength, competing for Revolution Race Cars in the European Sports Prototype Cup – where just days ago, he clinched the Championship with a double-win at Le Mans. As the co-founder of Racing Pride, he’s spent years wor...
Nov 15, 2023•38 min
If you’ve been watching British wrestling for a while, you’ll probably have seen Jason Joshua in action. Sovereign Pro Wrestling, WAW, Full Force Wrestling, the self-proclaimed ‘Big Daddy Unicorn’ has been plying his trade across the UK scene – and now, he’s joining us on the podcast to talk about his journey, in and away from the ring. We get into who inspired him to give wrestling a try; finding a character that suited him; his most memorable matches and moments; his own story when it comes to...
Nov 08, 2023•37 min
The last time that Ben Watkiss was on the podcast, he was working for League One’s Burton Albion as a strength and conditioning coach. Now, he’s crossed the border to Scotland – where he’s working as the Lead Sport Scientist for Ayr United, who play in the Scottish Championship where they’re currently sitting in a mid-table position. And the last time Ben was on, back in April of 2021, men’s football looked like a very different place – with no Jakub Jankto, no Jake Daniels, no Josh Cavallo, no ...
Nov 01, 2023•32 min
It’s hard to imagine Devin Ibanez living a life without rugby. He played for Major League Rugby’s New England Free Jacks in the USA in their inaugural season, took gold with Team USA at the World Maccabiah (Maccabee) Games in Israel in 2017 and represented Richmond in the Championship in the UK. And if all of that wasn’t a tip-off that Devin loves the game, his social media handle – ‘that gay rugger’ – should really be the giveaway. But coming to a point where Devin could speak about his two tru...
Oct 25, 2023•35 min
It was in February of this year that Jakub Jankto looked down the lens of a camera and told the world that he was gay. The 27-year old’s motivation was simple – he no longer wanted to live in fear or in hiding – and while his message was simple, the reaction was overwhelming. Support came in from some of the biggest names in the beautiful game, as Jankto made history as the most high-profile active male footballer to open up about their sexuality – and for a little while, we’ve been chatting abo...
Oct 18, 2023•32 min
October 11th is National Coming Out Day. It’s a worldwide anniversary that celebrates the bravery of those who have found the strength to live authentically and open up about their sexuality or gender identity, and to recognise the challenges and hurdles that still prevent people from doing just that. And to mark the occasion, we’ve got a special bumper edition of the podcast celebrating some of the most powerful ‘coming out’ stories that we’ve been able to share on the show over the past five y...
Oct 11, 2023•40 min
You know that you’re going to like someone when they describe their identity as a non-binary bisexual as ‘joyful chaos’ – and that’s exactly how Charlotte Galloway talks about herself. But it’s just one part of Charlotte’s personality, which is as much tied up in their love of football, which manifests itself in her role as both the chair of Cardiff Dragons and as the co-founder of the Women's Football Collective, which styles itself as a training centre for ‘Her Game Too’ campaign. So, it’s cle...
Oct 04, 2023•36 min
