Former NRL enforcer Kane Evans publicly comes out as gay in an interview aired on Channel Nine’s 100% Footy with host James Bracey. Multiple outlets report Evans describes the disclosure as making him feel “free” and lifting a long-standing burden. The accounts say he frames his sexuality as something he knew for years but handled through denial, trying other ways to cope.
Several sources also include details about Evans’s struggles with addiction, including drug and alcohol use, and mental health challenges such as suicidal thoughts. Reports add that he has experienced homelessness during the period when he was wrestling with his sexuality. In the interview, Evans says he had multiple goals growing up, and that wanting to end his life was part of how he coped while living in denial.
Outlets also note Evans is a rare public case among men’s professional Australian rugby league players, identified as the second male NRL player to come out, after Ian Roberts in 1995.
