"American Gladiators"' First Gay Contender

Why was it so important for Hetherington to be on American Gladiators?

"I knew that I would be the first openly gay person to be on the show," said Hetherington. "I grew up this very heavy kid. I was always teased in school for being heavy and being feminine and when that happens to kids at a young age, you grow up with a different identity than someone who is naturally inclined towards sports. I saw this as a really great opportunity to sort of right the wrongs of my past in a way. I thought this is a really good opportunity to maybe be an inspiration for other kids, especially who don’t necessarily identify with the meathead culture that I think is normally around athletics."

Hetherington believes NBC thought his message and story of growing up gay and overweight was one they wanted to tell as well. "They kept asking me during the casting process, 'Are you in a relationship? How has your social life changed since you came out?' Everywhere I go, I’m openly gay. I’m the most militant homosexual you’ll ever meet. Finally, I said 'Are you asking me if I’m gay and do I have a boyfriend? Yes, and he’s super hot!' And they were like, that’s great. Everyone in the room was smiling from ear to ear. When I left I asked, 'Has there ever been an openly gay person on this show' and they said, 'No.' And I said, 'I wanna be the one.' And they said, 'Okay.'

Hurricane, Justice, Militia

What won't be clear until the episode airs (it wasn't available for screening beforehand) is how much of Hetherington's outspokenness viewers will see. But it won't be for lack of effort on Hetherington's part.

"When I went on the show," he said, "during the very first interview segment, it [his being gay] came up. I was so happy that they were so pro-gay on this show because this show reaches a demographic that I think isn’t necessarily as familiar with a gay person as, say, Blow Out on Bravo. It’s a different audience and to be able to represent the gay community on a show that’s the highest rated show among kids aged two to eleven is amazing. I’m pleased to be a part of it."

Aaron, Hetherington's boyfriend of a year, might also end up appearing during the episode as he attended almost every day of shooting and sat with the other contenders' families. "Between events," explained Hetherington, "they would ask you to go and greet your family and the cameras would follow you everywhere - and I definitely greeted him! We kissed a lot."

Aaron and Sean

With Hetherington so open about his orientation, was there homophobia amongst the other contenders? "You know, it’s hard to say ... I think all of us as gay people have encountered some sort of homophobia any time we have played sports because that’s just what happens among man versus man contact sports. I will say this, I was so openly gay the whole time and I played mind games as much as I could with anyone on that show."

When pressed for details about what he meant, Hetherington demurred not wanting to give anything away before the episode airs. But he added, "I will say that I think that because I’m a stand-up comic, it all stayed light for the most part and it was emotional, but in all the right ways. I think it’s going to be kind of a masterpiece in terms of breaking stereotypes for gays and lesbians in athletics."

Sean Hetherington competing on American Gladiators

Breaking those stereotypes is something very important to the trailblazer.

"I grew up in a house with a family who watched a lot of athletics [and] I never knew of an athlete who was openly gay while he competed. And to be a person who is openly gay while competing is a completely different dynamic, not only for the audience watching, but it’s a different dynamic for the competitors ... because what happens in athletics, and especially in a contact sport, the way to play mind games with your opponent, the way to gain an upper hand is to [often] make some sort of comment that is homophobic or misogynistic in nature.

"And that becomes a whole different game when the person is already openly gay because if you start to make those sort of comments to someone, then it might be considered homophobic and that’s something that we’ve never really acknowledged in sports. I think it’ll be interesting to see on Monday how that’s addressed on the show and that’s why I really wanted to be part of it. I wanted to kind of press some buttons and see what the threshold was for athletics in terms of homophobia when someone’s actually openly gay, as opposed to just perpetuating a stereotype when someone is losing, or winning."

Next page! Panic beforehand and a supportive boyfriend!