I’m a Celeb: Zach Tuohy expects it’s a matter of time until first gay AFL player comes out

I’m a Celeb contestant Zach Tuohy says it’s only a matter of time now until the first AFL player comes out as openly gay, with footy clubs becoming a safe space for that to finally happen.

Retired footy star Zach Tuohy says if any AFL player came out now as openly gay he’d feel safe in a football club environment.

The former Geelong and Carlton star says the footy landscape is shifting and it’s only a matter of time until a player decides to come out publicly.

“I don’t know (why no one has come out), I can only say that right now in the game or the game that I left is feels like an extremely safe place for somebody to come out and certainly any teammates I’ve had at either of the clubs I’ve played for... (they’d) welcome them like his brother, protect him at all costs and tell them they’re proud of them and love them,’’ Tuohy said.

“So it’ll come soon enough. And whenever it does come for that player, they’ll have his back.”

Retired AFL player. Zach Tuohy expects it’s only a matter of time before a player publicly comes out. Picture: Supplied.

Tuohy speaks with campmates on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, airing Monday night.

Actor Sigrid Thornton asked the question and wondered whether a player would be reluctant because they’d feel uncomfortable.

Tuohy, the Irish import who retired after 288 games and a Cats premiership, said he hoped a player could understand their sexuality wouldn’t be an issue.

“It is shifting and it is changing,’’ Tuohy said.

“But I wouldn’t know. But I suspect in that industry, for a young man who’s expected to play a really tough physical sport, that might even be harder. If I had to guess.

“I think I can speak pretty accurately from most clubs in the league right now, if not all of them, when I say that externally he might be worried about that. But internally I would like to think that wouldn’t be an issue anymore.”

The AFL is one of the only professional sports leagues in the world to have no active or even retired to publicly identify as gay or bisexual.

Port Adelaide forward Jeremy Finlayson was suspended for three matches last April after calling an Essendon player a f***** during their Gather Round clash.

Weeks later, TikTok star Scott O’Halloran revealed he’d had a long-term relationship with an AFL star “when they were both in the closet”.

“I had a relationship that lasted about three to four years with an AFL football player, who no longer plays AFL,’ he said.

“I think I loved him. I don’t know if he loved me ... But then there was this other side where we could scratch the surface of him being an AFL football player and a legend of the game and how scared he was to ever be found out for who he was, because of the homophobia in the game. The toxicity and homophobia is what ended our relationship.”

That prompted footy legend Brendan Fevola to blame the AFL for not being accepting enough.

‘It’s happened in other sports. In soccer, in NRL… why do you think that a player can’t come out and say they are gay? It’s so sad.” Fevola said.

Originally published as I’m a Celeb: Zach Tuohy expects it’s a matter of time until first gay AFL player comes out