‘I was homeless after coming out – now my dad and I couldn’t be closer’

The fallout the TV star had with his dad ‘broke his heart’ (Picture: Matt Monfredi/David Tarling/Channel 4)

Davide was 18 when he came out to his dad. Weeks later he was homeless on the streets of Paris.

Later this month, Davide is going to meet his husband for the very first time on Married At First Sight UK, the Channel 4 dating show where participants walk down the aisle without ever meeting the person at the end of it.

It’s taken a lot of healing, personal growth and wisdom to get to this point, to be able to say ‘I do’ at all, let alone to a total stranger.

But perhaps the most special part of Davide’s wedding day is that he can stand in front of his husband, with the full backing of the father who once told him ‘you’ll never be happy’ as a gay man.

Forgiveness and empathy are the key to a happy life; as Davide and his father discovered on their respective journeys after that scared teenager was brave enough to come out as a gay man.

‘I love my dad with all my heart,’ Davide tells Metro. ‘He had no idea what gay meant – he just didn’t know any better. He is one of the biggest supporters of the gay community now.’

Davide is on this year’s series of Married At First Sight UK among several other hopeful singles trying to find love (Picture: Matt Monfredi/David Tarling/Channel 4)

Davide and his father have never been closer, he tells me with the brightest smile. But it’s been, at times, a painful journey to get there.

Growing up, Davide tried hard to connect with his dad. ‘It was a strange relationship,’ he says. ‘I grew up with my mum and my sister most of the time. When it came to my teenage years, I tried to get close to him – I started fishing and football – but there was also that disconnect.’

Davide’s mum knew he was gay, but the weight of keeping her son’s sexuality a secret from her husband became too heavy. So she told him.

‘I remember standing in my room, my dad in the living room, and some of the things he said like, “I don’t want to see you for now” – it broke my heart.’

After therapy, Davide now believes his dad just needed time to process. But at the time, he felt abandoned. So he didn’t stick around. He moved to Paris on a dance scholarship, determined to prove he could be happy, despite what his father said.

He was living in hostels, unable to speak French, surviving on passion for dancing and working – until a thief snatched every last penny he had. Suddenly, Davide found himself without a roof over his head, homeless for almost a week.

‘I didn’t want to contact my dad. Part of me was so stubborn I just told myself I’d be fine,’ Davide recalls. ‘Being on the streets was the scariest thing I’ve been through.’

With no close friends in Paris and unable to let his family know he was in danger, Davide made do by showering at school and sleeping in a 24-hour Starbucks.

One in five LGBTQ+ people in the UK will experience homelessness at some point in their lives. It’s a staggering statistic that has hardly gone down over the last five decades; coming out can still be such a dangerous time, particularly for young LGBTQ+ people.

‘If you need help, ask for it,’ Davide stresses now with the wisdom of hindsight. ‘Pride doesn’t get you anywhere. In retrospect, I probably wasn’t ready to come out, I probably needed more time to put myself in a place where I felt safe, supported and not isolate myself like I did.’

‘The community is there for you too,’ he adds. ‘We might be mean to each other, but we’re mean with love.’

‘Nothing is worth putting yourself at risk or letting your pride get in the way of letting other people understand you. My dad took a couple of months and then he said, “I miss you.”’

Davide’s father has never been prouder of his son than he is today. Davide even claims: ‘My dad got more in touch with his emotions once I came out and he saw how broken I was.’

Eventually, Davide came home during the holidays and could sit down with his dad for the first time since running away to Paris. ‘The conversation was basically me waffling,’ says Davide. ‘He’s said, “Talk to me, you look the same.” I was like, “Yeah, because it doesn’t change who I am as a person, I’m still your son and the kind person you raised.’

Davide’s life today is unrecognisable from the path he thought lay ahead after first coming out. He’s brought partners home to his parents, which couldn’t have gone better. ‘He accepted my ex into the family and got him drunk. They don’t even speak the same language, but they had a laugh together,’ Davide grins with so much pride.

So how did his dad react to Davide turning to Married At First Sight to find love? ‘He just said, “I hope you find someone that will make you feel very happy.’

Davide hopes his appearance on the show will be educational – not just for LGBTQ+ people, but for their parents too. It’s hard to imagine it won’t be.

‘If it helps one parent to rethink how they talk to their child, then great because words leave a mark,’ he says. ‘As parents, above all, if you think your son or daughter is part of the LGBTQ+ community, then approach it with care. Let them come to you. When they’re read,y they’ll come to you.’

Married At First Sight launches Sunday September 21 at 9pm on E4.

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