Singer Tommy Fleming clashed with television presenter Lucy Kennedy on her chat show Unfiltered after she questioned him about alleged infidelity during his marriage.
The 55-year-old Irish entertainer became visibly irked during the pre-arranged television interview when Kennedy pressed him over rumours of extra-marital affairs before his separation from ex-wife Tina Mitchell.
Speaking about the aftermath of the separation, the singer described navigating the public reaction after a leaked phone call forced him to reveal his sexuality. "It’s been a strange road to navigate, but it’s a lot easier to navigate this one than the one I had to navigate," Fleming said. "It’s been tough, you know. It’s not been an easy ride, and I didn’t expect it to be. Don’t get me wrong. It’s been very sad. That’s one word that stands out for me. There’s a sadness attached to all of this."
Refusing to discuss allegations of affairs during his marriage, Fleming pushed back against the line of questioning on set. "I’ve already discussed this. I’m not going on this one with this," he said.
When Kennedy continued to probe the matter, the performer expressed his frustration at reopening past events. "I’ve spent months answering these questions," Fleming told the presenter. "We’ve all been through a lot. Let me rephrase that... we’ve all been through a s*** storm. And to be perfectly honest, you asking, sitting here asking those questions, is bringing me right back there. You want the truth, or whoever wants the truth, you’re forgetting one thing. This is my life."
Leaked recording and Garda investigation
The broadcast marked Fleming’s first televised interview since the leaked phone call went viral earlier this year.
Fleming explained that he felt forced to publicly disclose his sexuality after the recording was widely shared online. "In many ways, my hands were forced due to a recording that was made," he said. "A friend of mine rang me to say that he had received this WhatsApp message with the recording of it. And have you ever been in a situation where you know when people say the oxygen was taken out of the room, but this is when it leaves your body."
Describing the moment the audio began circulating, Fleming recalled feelings of severe distress. "God, and there’s a feeling of hopelessness. There’s a feeling of 'how am I going to do this? Maybe it won’t pick up'. And boy, did it pick up," he said.
The leak is currently the subject of an investigation by An Garda Síochána, Ireland's national police force. Asked if he knew who leaked the call, Fleming said: "I have my suspicions here."
The clash on set comes after previous comments made by his former wife. In an interview with the Sunday Independent newspaper, Mitchell stated that she felt Fleming had been "stringing" her along. Fleming rejected that suggestion during the broadcast. "There was no stringing along... for 22 years, I was very happy," he said.
Mental health struggles and recovery
Reflecting on the period following the end of his marriage, the vocalist spoke about the severe toll on his mental health. "Tina and I decided to separate, and mentally I was not in a very good place at all," Fleming said. "You know... it’s just I was very broken and, I suppose everybody knows at this point in here, I made an attempt on my life in September."
Following his suicide attempt on September 21 last year, Fleming was admitted to St Patrick's Mental Health Services in Dublin, known as St Pat's. He spent seven weeks receiving treatment at the psychiatric facility after being diagnosed with depression and acute anxiety.
It was during his seven-week stay at the facility that the recorded telephone conversation took place. "In those seven weeks, there was, you know, I had a phone call with Tina and it was recorded. I didn’t know it was recorded," Fleming said. "If I knew it was recorded, I certainly wouldn’t discuss the stuff I discussed on it. And that’s the kind of catalyst in all of this. That’s the kind of... to me was a betrayal. You have to unpack a lot to try and figure that one out."
Asked whether concealing his sexuality was the catalyst for the drug and alcohol addiction that resulted in his admission to the psychiatric facility, Fleming acknowledged its impact. "It would have been certainly a contributing factor," he said. "You don’t continue that life for so long without it having some effect. When you start to work with the professionals like psychiatrists and psychologists and all of that, you’ve got a team that’s working around you. I suppose you learn to accept who you are."
Fleming, who comes from County Sligo, is a prominent Irish singer known for performing traditional, folk and contemporary music. The interview features on the new chat show Unfiltered with Lucy Kennedy, which broadcasts on Virgin Media One and Virgin Media Play from 9pm tonight.
