Clive Betts: Gay MP opens up about decision to come out and the reaction from fellow Sheffield Wednesday fans

Clive Betts, who is the MP for Sheffield South East and a huge Owls supporter, came out in 2003 after a newspaper revealed he had employed a former male escort as a researcher. He said he had been unsure about the reaction he would get from fellow Sheffield Wednesday fans when he returned to the stands for the first time afterwards but that he was pleasantly surprised.

The Mirror reported how, speaking on GB News to Gloria De Peiro, in an interview to be broadcast this afternoon, Mr Betts recalled going to his first away game at Leicester after coming out. “Fans came up to me and said ‘great to see you back, you're still the same football fan you were before’,” he said. “And I thought that was a change of approach.”

He also described how when he attended another away match at Brighton there had been some offensive chants but someone came up to him at half-time and told him: “Oh, I've been doing some chanting which was homophobic. I suddenly realised you were there. It wasn't intended for you, it was wrong. And I've come to apologise.”

Mr Betts, who has represented Sheffield as a Labour MP since 1992, described coming out as ‘one of the best decisions I’ve ever made’. He said that when he was growing up in Sheffield ‘people weren’t out’, there was barely any gay scene and it was ‘hardly talked about’, but he said times had changed.

“Life has moved on, life has changed. And you know, that's good,” he told GB News. “So hopefully in coming out and being open about it, I've maybe helped other people who are still concerned about that and still worried about it and living something which isn't their true lives. It's one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

Gloria Meets, featuring the interview with Mr Betts, is due to air at 6pm on Sunday, March 5 and will be available to watch on catch-up afterwards.