Dennis Rodman admitted he thought he was gay when he was 14, 15
Dennis Rodman said hanging out with his sisters made him question his sexuality.
CHICAGO BULLS
Dennis Rodman
© RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Dennis Rodman was the NBA's ultimate bad boy, showcasing an ahead-of-its-time swag on the court with a body covered in tattoos and hair dyed in different colors.
Rodman's unique personality made him a popular figure, not only among NBA fans but also among women. As a result, Dennis made headlines for his relationships with Carmen Electra and Madonna. But before he became a notorious womanizer, there was a time when Rodman thought he was gay.
Rodman thought he was gay as a kid
Rodman was raised by a single mother in a household with two sisters, Debra and Kim. He spent a lot of time with them and didn't really have any male friends. His sisters, meanwhile, dressed Dennis as a girl, which resulted in him questioning his sexuality. Rodman talked about it in an interview on Oprah Winfrey Show.
“I was very shy and very insecure. You know, I thought that when I was 14, 15, that I was gay because I hung out with my sisters a lot. Everybody was like, ‘You got any guy friends?’ and I was like, ‘No.’ I felt secure hanging out with my mother and my sisters. I was very scared to be around boys. I didn't know how I would fit in because I was so shy."
Philander Rodman abandoned Dennis when he was three or four years old, so he didn't have a father figure growing up. Philander was a womanizer who claimed to have fathered 29 children with 16 different women. That's why it’s no surprise Dennis found comfort and security with his sisters and mother.
Rodman's love life
Dennis dated a number of celebrities, but he's most famous for his marriage to Carmen Electra. The two tied the knot in 1998 but got divorced a year later. Still, the supermodel always held a special place in Dennis' life, as highlighted in his book
"I Should Be Dead By Now: The Wild and Crazy Times of the NBA's Greatest Rebounder."
"I don’t know what it was. Maybe it was because, at that time in my life, I was having sex with lots of different women. So many that, sometimes, it became like a job, you know? With Carmen, it was different. It was nice to be hanging with someone, waiting for the right time, the right place, the right moment," Dennis wrote.
Before Carmen Electra, the Chicago Bulls forward was briefly involved with Vivica A. Fox, the talented actress and model. He was also married to Annie Bakes, an American model and actress. However, their relationship also ended in divorce after only one year.
The Worm also dated Madonna. The famous singer even went as far as to
offer Rodman $20 million to impregnate her; however, that never happened.
“In 1993, I think her career was declining, and she said the reason why she dated me was because I was a bad boy," Dennis said.
"That's why she dated me. I was going up, and she was pretty much leveling off."