Julia From ‘RHOM’ Says Her Daughters Convinced Her to Come out
Julia Lemigova from Bravo‘s The Real Housewives of Miami admitted that it took years before she came out as a lesbian and it was her daughters who finally convinced her to go public and be proud.
Lemigova recalled that her daughters were in a situation where they felt the need to defend their mother, which is when she decided it was time to embrace being gay. Lemigova, who is married to tennis legend Martina Navratilova became the first gay, married Housewife on the franchise.
Julia’s daughters defended her to other parents long before ‘RHOM’
While Lemigova is out and proud today, she wasn’t always completely out in public. “It started when my daughters. Actually, my daughters, helped me to come out when they were defending me because some parents made it a comment in school,” she said on the Side Piece with Melissa Pfeister podcast.
“And my girls stood up for us, and that was amazing,” she continued. “It was oh my God, my kids are like, so brave and bold, and I’m ashamed to hold Martina’s hand? And it was only when we came to Miami that I felt, this is home. This is the place where I’m going to put my roots down and live the life that should have many years ago.”
Julia Lemigova didn’t come out until she moved to Miami
Being from Russia, Lemigova didn’t come out until she moved to Miami years later. “Moving to Miami from Paris,” she said about when she finally, truly came out. “It was [in] Miami. It was truly Miami. Little bits and pieces of me partially coming out to my friends and my colleagues in Paris, but it was not long like I didn’t own it.”
“You know, I was kind of selective coming out,” she recalled. “We would be at this event, I would be more affectionate. But then walking on the street? No, no, no, no, no. We would be in a close group of friends. I would be all over Martina, but never in a cafe, holding hands.”
“Then Martina would take my hand and do something so normal, so normal, like a straight couple who would do. And I felt so envious, jealous of other people,” she shared. “And I would see a man and woman would kiss each other in a restaurant. They would be romantic and affectionate. I knew I was so blocked. I just couldn’t do it. So I’m thinking, like, how many years of my life I took away from my life and Martina being completely wrapped up in this fear and this shyness, it was like not accepting who I was.”
How did Martina Navratilova react to her wife joining ‘RHOM’?
Lemigova isn’t the only one in the relationship who prefers her privacy. Navratilova is well-known for being a very private person, so fans were surprised when her wife joined RHOM. But Lemigova shared why she ultimately joined the show.
“She’s an extremely private person,” Lemigova said about her wife. “And never in a million years, I would imagine her taking it. Like her answer was like, yes. Adriana [de Moura] calls me one morning and she said, ‘Julia, would you like to be my friend on the show?’ What do you think? So she invited me to be part of my cast. And I walked into the bedroom, Martina was still half asleep, and I told her. She was like, girl, go for it. Have you seen yourself like the way you brought me the news? Like, your eyes were shining and I couldn’t say no to you because I knew that there’s something there that you feel so good about.”
