Tommy Fleming’s emotional response to ‘incredible’ support at 1st gig since coming out as gay & ‘living a lie’ admission

SINGER Tommy Fleming received a standing ovation at his first show since coming out as gay.

The folk star — who said he was “finally living my truth” — received a rapturous response when he walked on stage at the Riverbank Arts Theatre in Newbridge, Co Kildare on Saturday night.

Tommy’s concert came just 24 hours after an explosive tell-all interview on Newstalk in which he admitted: “I had been living a lie for all my life really… And that lie was that I’m gay.”

Manager Kathy Cullinan told The Irish Sun: “Tommy walked out on stage and the place erupted. It was the most incredible audience.

“Sometimes people know you need support and the crowd went the extra mile to support Tommy.”

Fans came from all over Ireland to support Tommy at the sell-out show in Newbridge.

Supporters rose to their feet to cheer and clap him as he was introduced, with the emotional star remarking: “That’s the longest introduction cheer I’ve ever had.”

Tommy’s manager revealed that his upcoming show at the Friars Gate Theatre in Kilmallock, Co Limerick on Saturday night looks like it will sell out too.

This is the final date in his Intimate Evening of Songs and Stories tour of Ireland.

During his Newstalk chat with Ciara Kelly on Friday, Tommy had told of his fears that his career was over after a private audio recording was leaked online.

His manager admits she was shocked by the leaked audio, which was recorded last year but turned up in the last two weeks — just as Tommy was about to announce a major Irish tour.

Kathy said: “I don’t know how it was leaked. This all happened last year and Tommy had never spoken about it. I don’t know what happened but that’s the timeline. It was leaked suddenly.”

She also stressed the leaked recording — which is currently being probed by Gardai — is “not the full picture, not by a long shot” of the difficulties he had been facing in his personal life.

Kathy also revealed the reasons why the singer bravely decided to go public and address the matter on Newstalk last Friday.

She said: “We knew that Tommy had to address the situation as it wasn’t going away and we were heading into the weekend.

“He was only going to do one interview about this subject and he was very fragile. Ciara Kelly is a qualified doctor, and we knew she would be sensitive rather than just looking for the story.

“Tommy had spent six months building himself back up and Ciara was fantastic. He was only going to do one interview about this. Because he knew he would be asked about it in every single interview he addressed it now.”

Both Tommy and his agent denied that news of a nationwide tour by the singer, announced just 24 hours after the widely-covered interview, was an attempt to cash in.

Kathy said: “We planned to hold off that announcement for a few weeks.

“But it went up online as it was an automated system when the tickets went on sale, and there were already adverts booked.”

Speaking on the Hard Shoulder, Tommy said he wanted “to give my side of it too, to give you my truth” after his wife of almost 20 years, Tina Mitchell, confirmed that the couple are now separated.

He explained: “For at least ten to 13 years of marriage, we were very happy but small cracks started to appear, mainly for me.

“Small cracks that were never mended and with every crack that appeared there was a new crack, and a new crack, and those cracks became a chasm. I wasn’t happy with my own ­situation.

“It wasn’t about being happy, it was about being uncomfortable with the situation.”

Manager Kathy, a close friend of Tommy, said he had been “absolutely destroyed” by recent events and at one stage didn’t know if he would resume his music career.

She added: “My priority is getting Tommy better and back doing what he loves doing — music. It’s great the public have come out to support him like they did in Newbridge.”