Singer Tommy Fleming shares his journey with mental health, his coming out, and the impact of a leaked private recording.
Tommy Fleming has broken his silence and come out as gay in an explosive interview.. He also revealed he has been significantly struggled with his mental health as a result of leading a double life and hiding his true health.. After a suicide attempt via overdose, the singer was admitted in St Patrick’s Mental Hospital last September.. “[It came from] an overwhelming sense of absolute sadness and hopelessness,” he told Ciara Kelly on Newstalk’s The
Hard Shoulder.. “And the fact it would be so much easier if I wasn’t here.. I was admitted to St Pat’s for treatment for acute depression and anxiety.” He told his doctors in the hospital about his sexuality and said that being admitted into treatment was “terrifying”.. “I initially felt like an absolutely failure,” he said.. “I felt like I had absolutely failed in every walk of life, in every thing I had done and
I wasn’t a real man.” While he was in St Pat’s, a phone call between himself, his wife Tina and his stepdaughter Rebecca was recorded without his knowledge and recently leaked.. “It took away my privacy,” he said.. “It did force my hand but what it also did was take away my autonomy and take away me being able to stand in front of my siblings, my five siblings …. we’re a very close family,
and what it took away was my right to be able to stand in front of them and give them respect of telling them the truth.. “It took away my privacy in my suicide attempt in September.. That was never meant for the public.” Tommy admitted he felt trapped and as though he was living a lie.. “For at least 10 or 13 years of marriage we were very happy but small cracked started to
appear,” he said.. “Small cracks that were never mended.. Those cracks became a chasm.. I wasn’t happy with my own situation…. It wasn’t about being happy, it was about being uncomfortable with the situation if that makes sense.. “I had been living a lie for all my life really.. The hardest part of that was the energy and the effort it took for this lie to be constantly covered.. That lie was that I’m gay.”
He added: “I’m finally living my truth.. I’m finally being honest.. I’m finally able to live a life that’s true and real and honest.” He admitted he strayed in his marriage.. “I was trying to convince myself it was alright because it was anonymous,” he said.. “It wasn’t an affair in my head.. “In your head, you’re going, ‘why did I do that?’ You lie to yourself.. You lie, you believe the lie.. “There was
a yearning of the real me.. I knew every day I walked in life I was not the real me.. I was trapped within my own creation, within my own body of lies, within my own bubble that I created, and that was a big part of it.” However, he was firm that he had never put Tina at risk during their marriage.. “Absolutely not,” he said.. He also said he had been struggling with
alcohol and substances as a “painkiller” for what he was going through.. “It was across a broad spectrum of prescription medication, illegal substances and alcohol,” he admitted.. “All of the above, I dabbled with.” If you are struggling with your mental health, you can ring Samaritans 24/7 on 116 123 Want to see more of the stories you love from RSVP ?. To add RSVP as a preferred source of news on Google, simply click
here
Tommy Fleming, mental health, suicide attempt, coming out, St Patricks hospital