Tiktok Star Speaks Out About Years-Long Secret Relationship With Closeted AFL Player

Tiktok star Scott O’Halloran has spoken out about his secret relationship with a closeted AFL player.

Scott originally spoke up about the relationship on his podcast, The Luke and Sassy Scott Podcast, and was asked to appear on The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick show to elaborate further. 

The Tiktok star explained that the relationship lasted between 3 and 4 years, but came to an end due to “toxicity and homophobia”. 

“I had a relationship that lasted about 3-4 years with an AFL football player,” O’Halloran said.

“I think I loved him. I don’t know if he loved me. We enjoyed one another’s company and confided so much in one another when we were both in the closet.

“The toxicity and homophobia is what ended our relationship. It was too much pressure on him. It was too much pressure on me.”

Scott said that he and the unnamed player would be constantly fearful of being seen in public together. 

“We couldn’t even go out and get a latte together because of the sheer fear the both of us had of somebody pointing at the both of us saying ‘oh my god are you guys gay?’.

“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.”

O’Halloran told Fifi, Fev & Nick that they’d had a really strong connection, but it couldn’t be shared publicly because the player was “so scared of the homophobia and the lack of support from the community, and from the AFL”.

O’Halloran decided to speak up after seeing homophobia in AFL

The social media star also said the relationship happened a long time ago, and said adamantly he does not want to, and will not ever, out the player in question. 

But he explained that he wants to speak up after seeing the hate towards the LGBTQI+ community after the Jeremy Finlayson incident.

“I have many, many years have sat with something very personal to me that I’ve never felt the need to share, it was something personal that existed between me and an AFL player, who is no longer playing anymore,” he said.

“We had a relationship for about 3-4 years. I want to make it very clear; I will never ever share their identity. No one’s job is to ever ‘out’ a person – so that’s not my goal in this.

“But when I saw and heard some homophobia, which happens a lot in the AFL, I just got very disappointed and very vocal about the AFL not supporting its code, its players, its employees.

“So, I’ve decided to share the story about the relationship on today’s podcast.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Luke And Sassy Scott (@lukeandsassyscott)

Receiving homophobic hate after speaking up about Jeremy Finlayson

O’Halloran was vocal about the recent homophobic incidents in the AFL, particularly the incident in which Port Adelaide’s Jeremy Finlayson yelled a homophobic slur at an Essendon player in early April. The slur was caught by an umpires’ microphone and Finlayson was given a three-match suspension. While Finlayson apologised, he also appeared on a podcast soon after to complain about the consequences to his actions, saying the suspension “pissed him off” and “tipped [him] over the edge”.

O’Halloran said that he received so much hate and homophobic vitriol after he spoke out about the Finlayson incident that he says he can understand why no AFL player has ever come out as gay. 

“When I spoke about it two, three weeks ago, what did I experience? Nothing but hate.

“It just speaks volumes as to why no AFL player feels ready to come out.

“I know that if a gay AFL player would have seen the hate that I received for talking about it, would have gone, ‘Oh, hell no, it’s not ready for someone to come out.’ It’s sad.”

Legendary Carlton player Brendan Fevola, one of the stars of The Fox’s Fifi, Fev & Nick show, responded to O’Halloran’s story by saying he also felt “sad” that no gay AFL players have felt safe enough to come out about sexual identity.