Celebrity Big Brother 2014: Evander Holyfield's son defends 'gay ain't normal' remarks
The boxer's son Ewin describes his dad as 'the most loving and caring person'
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Your support makes all the difference.Evander Holyfield’s son has defended his father after his homophobic remarks on Celebrity Big Brother, saying his dad does not ‘ hate’ gay people.
The US heavyweight boxer expressed his views to fellow contestant Luisa Zissman that being gay "ain’t normal" during Saturday night’s episode of the reality TV show.
In response to criticism, Ewin Holyfield told TMZ: “My dad is the most loving and caring person you will ever meet. He treats everyone like a human being…even if they are homosexual.
“My dad feels that being gay is a choice…and naturally that’s how things work. You cannot procreate and make a baby with two women, or two men. But at the same time, my dad is not going to judge someone for their sexual orientation.”
Ewin added that Evander’s former brother-in-law is gay, but that his father had a good relationship with him and treated him like family.
The four-time world champion, 51, was warned by Channel 5 bosses in the Diary Room after he compared homosexuality to a disability and implied that it was a handicap that could be ‘fixed’.
When commanded to make no "extremely offensive" comments, Holyfield insisted that he had not intended to insult or influence others with his personal religious beliefs. He is yet to apologise for his derogatory words.
When The Apprentice runner-up Zissman rgued that there should be more openly gay sports stars, Holyfield responded that "the Bible lets you know there's wrong, there's right".
This year's Bit on the Side co-host Rylan Clark posted a message claiming to be "unbiased" before saying that "what Evander just said was disgusting". He deleted the tweet shortly afterwards.
Former Culture Club frontman Boy George also expressed disappointment at Holyfield’s attitude.
"At customs there should be a huge sign! Welcome to Britain, racism, sexism, homophobia and bad hair are not tolerated!” he continued.
A spokesperson for Channel 5 confirmed that viewer complaints following the conversation are being assessed. "However, no descision has been made to formally investigate at this stage," the broadcaster said.
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