Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy has made a stunning confession about his viral 2014 romance rumors with Miley Cyrus.
The 34-year-old dropped the bombshell during an interview with The New Yorker, where he drew ‘insane parallels’ between his own life and hit series Heated Rivalry.
He compared his brief, headline-grabbing linkage to Cyrus to the show’s storyline involving main character Shane Hollander.
In the series, Hollander is ‘suddenly linked’ to a famous woman named Rose Landry to mask his true identity. For Kenworthy, art imitated life a little too closely.
‘As much as I kind of wanted it – because that’s the person you would want to be with if you’re straight, someone successful and beautiful and talented – it’s not the same as when you’re with a guy,’ Kenworthy explained.
The drama kicked off during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. After winning a silver medal just days before Valentine’s Day, Kenworthy publicly declared Cyrus was his ‘dream date’ and ‘celeb crush.’
Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy has made a stunning confession about his viral 2014 romance rumors with Miley Cyrus
The comments set tongues wagging globally, leading to a period of intense speculation. But behind the scenes, Kenworthy says the situation quickly became complicated.
‘It was surreal for a number of reasons, but I was also digging myself this deeper and deeper hole,’ he recalled.
‘I actually love her. But then there was some flirty texting, and I remember thinking, “What am I doing? I don’t want to do this anymore. I don’t want to keep waking up and lying.”‘
At the very moment he was exchanging texts with the ‘Wrecking Ball’ singer, Kenworthy was actually in a ‘secret relationship’ with a man.
He described ‘clandestine meetings and hookups,’ mirroring the on-screen romance between characters Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov.
Kenworthy eventually came out as gay in 2015. Far from being upset, Cyrus proved to be his biggest cheerleader.
The ‘Hannah Montana’ alum took to Instagram at the time to praise her ‘courageous’ friend.
Kenworthy is officially coming out of retirement to compete in his fourth Winter Olympics
‘Never have I ever been prouder to call @guskenworthy my friend! (and he’s a bad ass f***ing Olympic athlete),’ she wrote.
‘You have won so much more than any medal…. You have won FREEDOM! I looooove looooove looooove you!’
Kenworthy also told The New Yorker he felt a painful connection to another character in the HBO Max hit, Scott Hunter, played by Francois Arnaud.
‘He wanted to be out, but really, just truly felt like he couldn’t be, because of his circumstances,’ Kenworthy said.
‘That was me for so many years. I had the same yearning – to be in love, to be public and to not have to hide.’
Kenworthy is officially coming out of retirement to compete in his fourth Winter Olympics at the 2026 Games in Milan and Cortina.
