Ricky Martin's dad urged him to come out as gay so he wouldn't teach his children to "lie"

He told SiriusXM's 'Andy Cohen Live' about how his professional team had warned him to hide his sexuality by telling him if he came out it "is gonna be the end of your career".

Ricky added they said: "You don't have to tell the world. Your friends know, your family know. Why do you need to stand in front of the camera and talk about it?"

The singer said even though his team "didn't understand the importance" of him coming out, his dad urged him to be honest.

He added: "(My dad) said, 'What are you gonna (do), teach your kids to lie? "You gotta be open. You gotta go out... I want to help you. How can we do this?'

"And I'm like, 'All right, dad, I'm working on it. Gimme a second. I don't know how. I don't know if it's through an interview. I don't know if I want to write a letter and tweet it. I don't know. Gimme a break. It'll come.'"

Ricky had come out to his ex-accountant mum Doña Nereida Morales when he was 18, but admitted she needed time for the news to sink in.

He added: "She was concerned because she was, 'Oh my God, I just don't want you to hurt and people out there are really cruel,' and so it took her a minute to accept it.

"But obviously when I did it, I made sure she was on an airplane on her way to see me. So, she was on her airplane, and I did what I did.

"I wrote a letter (on his website), and I tweeted it."

"I wish I could come out 20 times. It felt amazing. Of course, I started crying like a baby.

"You know, I pressed send and I was like, 'Oh, that's it?'

"My assistant who's still my assistant, Paco, he was next to me and I'm like, 'I think I need a hug.'"