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Adam Rippon says Lance Armstrong’s anti-trans remarks were even worse behind the scenes of ‘Stars on Mars’
Rippon says Armstrong's views on trans athletes changed the vibe of the show.
Lance Armstrong’s transphobic comments about transgender athletes on Fox’s reality show Stars on Mars were even worse than they seemed, says Adam Rippon.
The iconic Olympian, who won the show’s inaugural season at the end of Monday’s finale, opened up about how Armstrong’s words reverberated throughout the cast.
“That’s when everything changed, when Lance brought up his opinions on trans athletes and sports. In the show, it’s a few minutes, but in reality, that was a long-winded conversation and it really shifted the focus,” Rippon told Entertainment Weekly. “It changed my experience totally. It was not the same after that.”
During an episode that aired in July, Armstrong, who was seated at a table alongside other cast members, started talking about how he thinks transgender athletes should compete in their own category.
“This is real simple: you want to transition? Let’s do it. You have your own category,” he said. “We’re going to have a whole new division. We’ll celebrate you, just like we would celebrate anybody else. What’s unfair about that?”
The pop star Tinashe countered Armstrong, explaining that excluding transgender athletes from certain spaces could have detrimental affects on their mental health.
But the prolific performance-enhancing drug user was obstinate.
“Actually, we’re not excluding anybody,” said Armstrong. “By the way, I sound like a right-wing lunatic. I’m not. I’m the most liberal person. But from a sporting perspective…”
While Rippon was quiet during the scene, he says he was fuming underneath. Last month, he blasted Armstrong’s comments as “inappropriate,” and called him the “greatest cheater in American history” (not a bad retort, if we say so ourselves).
Off-camera, Rippon says Armstrong continued the conversation, despite his obvious misgivings.
“What happens next is Lance comes over and we have a conversation, me and him, for probably the next 15 or 20 minutes. It just wouldn’t end,” Rippon told EW. “Every time I’m saying something, I’m lilting, like it’s over, let’s just stop. He couldn’t let it go. And it made me wildly uncomfortable.”
An accomplished figure skater, Rippon became the U.S.’ first out gay athlete to medal at the Winter Olympics, when he won bronze in the figure skating team event at Seoul 2018. Since then, he’s become an unabashedly gay American icon–even working the Red Carpet in a harness.
With that in mind, Rippon says he felt a responsibility to speak up on behalf of LGBTQ+ athletes, even though he’s not a transgender person himself.
“I wanted to be a representation of the LGBTQ+ community and that was a moment where I wanted to say something, but I don’t know everything about being a trans person,” he explained. “I do know that a lot of the things that were said that were not on the show were very transphobic and I’m glad that trans people didn’t need to watch what was said. It was not nice and it was not good in any sort of way.”
There’s also the fact that Armstrong, who was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and an Olympic bronze medal for PED use, is possibly the worst person to talk about fairness in sports.
“The person talking about this is the most recognized cheater in all of sports. So it’s just not the right time, it’s not the right person. Just focus on what [host] William Shatner has to say and just get your job done,” said Rippon.
In spite of Armstrong’s presence, Rippon continued on the show, and won the competition. The show featured numerous celebrities living with each other in the same space station and simulating life on Mars.
It’s apparent Rippon is proud of his astronautic efforts.
“I am so grateful for the time I got to spend filming this show. I laughed, I cried, I won(!!!),” he posted on Instagram. “Thank you to EVERYONE who put in so much work and made this crazy show a reality. The cast, the crew, everyone. And last but not least; I love you, William Shatner!”
In addition to winning the competition, it seems like Rippon made a new bestie. He also posted a pic of himself enjoying some post-show libations with the one and only Tinashe.
Now that’s a tandem we can get behind!
With a season victory on Dancing with the Stars also under his belt, Rippon has shown his winning ways can carry over from the ice to the small screen. We can’t wait to see what’s next for one of our favorite bold heartthrobs, who’s long left Armstrong in the dust…
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