Hi °C | Lo °C BROADCASTER Derek Mooney has publicly revealed that he is gay for the first time and added that he hopes to get married in the future.
The RTE host, who turned down an invite to be a best man at TV3 pal Alan Hughes and husband Karl Broderick's nuptials, right, last year, has spoken up and admitted that he would like to get hitched himself if the right suitor along.
"I'd consider anything. I'm 45 so I'd better get my skates on, hadn't I? If you're in the right place at the right time and meet the right person, you never know what's going to happen," he said.
While the Mooney Goes Wild presenter has never kept his sexuality a secret, Derek decided not to discuss his private life in public, until now.
"I just didn't talk about my sexuality. I'm a guy who presents a radio show and that's it. I shouldn't have to talk about my private life. It should be about what I'm doing for a living.
"I don't go around waving any flags. I never did. It's not part of my agenda. I have no agenda. I get on with my life.
"I believe everybody has the right to do their own thing," he said.
"Yes, I'm gay ... but it's no big deal."
And the Montrose-based anchor also explained that he "always knew" he was gay growing up and dedicated his time in his earlier years to hard work.
Childhood
"I was never straight. But I never felt any different. Why should I? Did I work hard when I was young? Yes, I did," he said.
Noting that today's society is much more accepting of homosexuality, Derek added that things have changed since when he was raised in the 1970s.
"It's not like now when kids can be themselves and that's the most important thing. It was a different country then. Homosexuality was illegal. But I didn't feel different from anyone else."
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