YouTuber Lele Pons opened up about learning that her father, Luis, is gay after discovering him in bed with another man when she was younger.
“I came to his room and I saw him actually, like, sleeping with a man,” the Venezuela native, 23, revealed during the Tuesday, May 26, episode of her YouTube documentary series, The Secret Life of Lele Pons. “I was like 10 years old, and that for me was like, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t believe it. Like, I saw … my dad.’”
Pons described the incident as “very traumatizing” because she did not need to find out about her father’s sexuality “so vividly.” However, she noted that they are now “even” since he has walked in on her in a similar situation.
The actress acknowledged that the realization eventually made her and Luis “so close,” but it was not without its challenges. “It was hard for me at first,” she said, pointing out that her OCD affected how she dealt with the information. “It was hard because I was repeating him saying he was gay until it sounded right in my head.”
Pons recalled how she ultimately shared the news with her classmates without meaning to do so. “So what happened was that I openly said he was gay … in my Catholic school,” she explained. “Impulsivity is a huge part of OCD. And when I found that my dad was gay, I said it during a presentation in my class. And everybody was like, ‘This has nothing to do with what’s going on.’” Her “very Catholic” teacher then pulled her aside.
Elsewhere in the episode, Luis raved about his daughter. “I think we have the best relationship anybody can possibly have,” he said. “We’re very close. We’re really, really close. We love each other.”
The singer returned the favor by gushing about her father via Instagram. “My dad is my best friend! The person I love most in the world and I will always forever support him!” she wrote on Tuesday. “He’s the best father I could have ever asked for and I thank God everyday [sic] for him! BTW: We were born the same day.”
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