BBC Radio star Petroc Trelawny regrets never telling his dad he's gay before death

BBC Radio Three presenter Petroc Trelawny revealed he regrets not talking to his dad about his sexuality before his death ten years ago

BBC Radio three presenter Petroc Trelawny revealed he "slightly regrets" not telling his father of his sexuality before his death.

His army officer dad, Richard, died 10 years ago, and Petroc said he 'certainly knew' the star was gay but the two never bothered speaking about it. He admitted he didn't want to stress himself out with the 'conversation' and thought nothing would have been achieved by it.

The 53-year-old told the Rosebud with Gyles Brandreth podcast: "My father never made any homophobic comments, interestingly. I think... I think he probably knew. He certainly knew later on. I never, I slightly regret that I never talked to him about it." When asked whether he ever came out to Richard, Petroc answered: "Never came out to him, no, no, and he only died 10 years ago so I had plenty of opportunity to.

"But I know, I know he talked about it a lot with my brothers. You know, asking if I was happy and asking if, you know, how my life was and so on so there was a conversation - it's very strange, actually, that we never talked about it. I don't know why not, that he never... I guess we were just both... why stress yourself out by having that conversation?"

He continued: "What was going to be achieved by it? If I had had a lover I wanted to take home who I was going to spend the rest of my life with then perhaps it would've been a bit different, but you know..." Meanwhile, Petroc has been writing a book about a Cornwall, where he grew up.

Speaking about it, he said: "I have been writing a book about Cornwall, which takes my childhood days there as its starting point. I have included Plymouth as one of my subjects. It was our “big city” – an exciting metropolis to be visited as often as possible."

He added: "Cornwall is my home, but London is where I live. Radio Three kindly let me broadcast my morning programme from the BBC studio in Truro from time to time, but any suggestion I might go there for good is met with a firm shake of management heads. Fair enough – broadcasting is about teamwork; the best projects are realised when people get together to throw raw ideas around, and then gradually refine them into something that will make satisfying listening. That can just about be done on Zoom or Teams, but it works so much better when everyone is together in the room."

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