Gay Olympian Matthew Mitcham talks getting ‘dividends’ on his body via OnlyFans and Tom Daley comparisons
Mitcham spoke about feeling like he's not remembered in queer history books in comparison to the more "marketable" Tom Daley
By Gary Grimes
Matthew Mitcham, the first openly gay man to win an Olympic gold medal, has spoken out about the complications he’s dealt with since launching his OnlyFans channel.
In an unseen clip from his recent appearance on the All Out podcast, Mitcham explains to host Jon Dean why he originally wanted to start the channel.
“I spent 20 something years investing in my body so why not try and get some dividends out of that?” he can be heard saying in the clip, shared exclusively with Attitude. “It just makes complete sense, only going as far as obviously I’m comfortable with and not crossing any of my own boundaries.”
The athlete also spoke about the balancing act he feels he has to play in order to maintain a profile in mainstream media whilst also producing OnlyFans content. “But the other issue is that because it is so stigmatised, it’s hard to reconcile with having a mainstream career in television or radio, like who wants to have a TV presenter who’s also a porn star?” he posited.
“I have found it to be an interesting line to walk where what I share on OnlyFans is not considered porn, so I try and keep it more artistic rather than pornographic.”
The former Australian diver made history when he won a gold medal in the 10-meter platform event at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Despite his achievement, Mitcham also spoke to Dean about feeling as though he is not remembered in queer history, and spoke in particular about living in the shadow of British diver Tom Daley who came out years after him.
When asked why he thinks the public reaction and brand support following Daley’s coming out was different to his own, Mitcham, who has been open about his drug use in the past, credited this to Daley being more of a “safe bet” than him.
“Right from the very beginning, [Tom] captured the hearts of not only the nation but the world,” Mitcham commented. “He is very marketable, has an amazing story, extremely successful athlete, and extremely marketable looks and personality and has his head on his shoulders, so he’s been very safe commercially with continued success over a really long period of time.
“And he is just a really lovely guy that people can get behind,” he added.
You can listen to Mitcham’s full interview on All Out here.