BBC Wimbledon presenter Clare Balding has recounted the heartbreaking moment her grandmother told her that her sexuality was 'disgusting' after she was outed as a lesbian in the early 2000s. Balding, now happily married to wife Alice Arnold, had already come out to her parents by 2003, but her grandmother was unaware until she saw the news in the papers.
Devastating Desert Island Discs Admission
In a candid 2013 interview on Desert Island Discs with Kirsty Young, Balding recalled the painful conversation. 'I said: 'Grandma I need to talk to you,' and she said: 'Yes I should think you do.' I said: 'Have you seen the paper?' and she said: 'Yes and I think it's disgusting',' Balding revealed. 'I said: 'What do you mean? The invasion of my privacy or my lifestyle choice,' and she said: 'Both.' And I didn't talk to her for about six months after that, which was pretty difficult.'
Fear of Career Damage
Balding had hidden her sexuality for nearly a decade after joining the BBC as a trainee journalist, fearing her career would 'nosedive' if colleagues discovered she was in a relationship with a woman. In 2021, she explained: 'I was worried that if people discovered I was in a relationship with a woman I might be discriminated against when it came to choosing presenters on TV. I was brought up to think that the only 'acceptable' relationship meant being married to a man. A lot has changed in the world since then, thankfully.'
Support After Coming Out
Despite her grandmother's reaction, Balding said 'most people were really kind and supportive' when she came out. She went on to become one of the BBC's biggest sports presenters, covering major events including Wimbledon and the Olympics.
Father's Doubts About Her Career
Balding also faced skepticism from her father, who doubted she could succeed in sports presenting. She recalled on the Paul McKenna podcast: 'I told dad that I was up against Steve Rider, who is the loveliest man, and another very famous man. My father just went, 'You've got no chance, not against them'. And then I won [the RTS award] and you just sort of think, 'This is quite surprising', to my father certainly.'
Balding added: 'I wanted to be my own person. I was very angry at my parents for their lack of acknowledgements for women's achievements and that made me really determined to do the things that maybe they thought women couldn't do.' She noted that when she first presented Grandstand on the BBC, her father was 'absolutely flabbergasted' that a woman could do the job.
