Champion swimmer, Sharron Davies, who takes her seat in the House of Lords next year, has opened up about struggling to pay bills, after making a number of controversial comments about trans women in sport
Olympian swimmer, Sharron Davies, has admitted she can’t afford to heat her home after making a number of controversial comments about the trans community.
The former Gladiator, 63, who takes her seat in the House of Lords next year, is known for her criticism of transgender rights and has expressed concerns about the impact she claims it has on women’s sport and spaces. Arguing that allowing trans women to compete in women’s sport disadvantages cisgender women, Sharron’s views have generated significant debate and controversy
The mum-of-three was once the toast of TV, with plum gigs, including iconic sports show Gladiators on her CV. She was also a regular commentator on the BBC. However, Sharron says pretty much all her contracts were pulled when she started to speak out about trans women in sport.
Claiming she only survived financially because her mother had left her an inheritance, the Olympian says money is still an issue, telling the Mail: “I’m lucky in that I had had a good career, so I didn’t have a huge mortgage, but now I live in a lovely Georgian house which I can’t afford to heat because my heating bills have gone mental like everyone else’s. I have been sitting here in my electric blanket in the kitchen today.
“But I learned a long time ago that money doesn’t bring happiness. What I am doing now gives me a sense of purpose.”
Sharron is now preparing to take her seat in Parliament next year after being nominated by Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch. The Tories said the accolade was in recognition of Sharron’s sporting achievements – and her campaigning on women’s rights.
Explaining that the Conservative leader told her that people will now have to listen to her, Sharron said: “I did say: ‘Hang on, what powers come with this job? What does it all mean?’.
“Kemi said: ‘You can say to people that they need to come and see you, and they can’t really ignore you. You can write to people and they HAVE to give you an answer”.’
Sharron continued: “So now, the people who have been avoiding me won’t be able to avoid me quite as much. People who don’t want to look into my eyes and say: ‘Yes, we are letting women in sport down’ won’t be able to simply ignore me.”
The silver-medal winner has become an outspoken campaigner against allowing transgender athletes in female competitions in order to “protect women’s sport”.
The swimmer, who won a silver medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow and two Commonwealth golds, denied that her comments were transphobic and claimed she had spoken to many other female athletes who “feel the same way as me”.
Following her nomination for a peerage, Sharron said it would be “exciting to carry on fighting for women’s rights and safeguarding as well as trying to get as many kids, in particular, doing sport as possible”.
Source: Mirror
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