How daughter’s sad words saved Kellie Maloney from suicide – as she calls out ‘shameful’ Olympic bosses over gender row

SHE turned the boxing world upside down when she revealed she was transgender and spoke out about the inner turmoil her gender battle had caused her.

Now, a decade on, Kellie Maloney has slammed Olympic bosses over the current gender row – saying they should “hang their head in shame.”

Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting have been allowed in the ring in the women’s boxing, despite both being disqualified from the World Championships last year after failing the International Boxing Association gender eligibility tests.

The IBA declared they both had “XY chromosomes” – which indicated a person is biologically male – although Imane has fiercely denied claims of cheating, insisting she is a woman.

Ahead of a new documentary, Knock Out Blonde, former boxing manager Kellie – born Frank – tells The Sun: “I think the Olympic committee should hang its head in shame for allowing this fight to happen… What were they playing at?

“This will only bring boxing into more disrepute and may get it banned from the Olympics in the future or may see more women refuse to take part.

“Under no circumstances should a transgender woman or women with high-level testosterone be allowed to compete in female boxing. 

“Boxing is too dangerous as a sport to give anyone such an advantage and eventually could cause serious health and damage to the opponent.” 

Kellie – who has had gender reassignment surgery – say the subject of transwomen participating in women’s sport is “a toxic issue”. 

However, there’s no doubt in her mind when it comes to boxing. She adds: “Definitely no to any form of combat sport, like the world I come from. 

“There are certain sports where it’s not a problem – darts, snooker, show-jumping or horse-rising – but I refer to the sporting bodies for guidance.”

Kellie, now 71, also opens up about the heartbreaking moment in 2010 when she broke down and told wife Tracey, “I’m a woman” as well as the multiple suicide attempts and the poignant plea from daughter Emma that turned her around.

‘Jack the Lad’

It was a shock for many when Frank, who led Lennox Lewis to become the first British undisputed heavyweight champion in a century, told the world that she had been born in the wrong body back in 2014 – a decade ago this month – and would be known as Kellie.

Throughout her career, she had carved a reputation as a fierce force to be reckoned and a ‘Jack the Lad’ character with a penchant for flashy and flamboyant suits. 

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, ahead of her biographical documentary Knock Out Blonde which is available to stream today, Kellie says living two lives nearly killed her.

Now 71, she tells us: “It felt like these two sides of me were pulling me apart. I had fought so hard all of my life not to give in. Living two lives was killing me. 

“It was this constant battle. Frank would say, ‘You’re the manager of the world heavyweight champion, you’ve got a family, children, and responsibilities. You can’t do this.’

“Then Kellie would say, ‘You are a female. You’ve got to be true to yourself because you’re destroying everything.’”

The promoter spent more than £100,000 altering her appearance including multiple facial feminising ops, a nose job, and having 400g breast implants to give her B or C-cup breasts. 

But it wasn’t until having gender reassignment surgery in March 2015, that she finally felt like the woman she always knew she was.

Kellie said: “The most important part was the actual vagina” adding that when she looked at herself in a mirror “I cried tears of happiness.  I was finally seeing the real me in the mirror. It felt amazing.

“I always said, ‘Managing Lennox Lewis was like winning the lottery’ but this was like winning three lotteries.”

Kellie, who was raised in an Irish Catholic family in Peckham, was three years old when she recognised she was “very different from all the other boys” around her.

She preferred female company, longed to go shopping instead of playing sports and noticed her dreams were very different from her two brothers. 

Kellie told the documentary: “When my parents asked, ‘What did you dream about?’ I would go, ‘I’ve not really dreamt anything’. How could I tell my parents that in all of my dreams I was a girl?”

Raised by a ‘tough’ traditional father, she buried her feelings to fit in and married young, tying the knot with first wife Jackie at 21 and having a daughter, Emma, soon after. 

She “fell in love” with boxing after seeing Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier’s 1971 Madison Square Garden clash – and starting fighting classmates when she was picked on due to her small stature.

At 5ft 2in tall, Kellie knew her chances of going professional were slim, so opted to become a trainer to get as close to the ring as possible.

In 1989, Kellie signed Lennox Lewis, then a promising young British-Canadian, who had already scooped a gold medal at the Olympics and won 85 bouts as an amateur.

She said: “That’s when it all changed for me. I would have been totally bankrupt and that’s the truth, to the tune of £80,000 in debt.

“I wanted to be a big player in boxing and succeed because I failed as an actual boxer and to walk down that same walk that Joe Frazier and Mohamed Ali did.

“I wanted to climb into the ring and walk away with three belts and with the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world. It was every boy’s dream.”

‘Womaniser’ guise

During her career, Kellie had become a master of disguise. She buried her longing to be a woman behind copious amounts of booze, work and two marriages. 

Two years after signing Lennox, Kellie and Jackie had split up. By 1997, she married Tracey, with whom she had two more daughters, Sophie and Libby. 

Kellie hid her true self from everyone as she forged a career in boxing – a sport known for it’s hypermasculinity.

She tells us: “The guys would pay for me to have lap dances but whenever I got inside I would just say to the woman, ‘You don’t have to dance, just chat with me for five minutes. 

The counsellors told me, the day you take off the lid of Pandora’s box and let Kellie out, you will never be able to put that lid back on

Kellie Maloney

“I gave the impression of being a man about town and a bit of ladies’ man but I never really was like that. I just found it easy to talk to women.”

In secret, Kellie was researching more about being transgender and bought ‘fetish magazines’ about people who were transitioning.

She didn’t speak to anyone about her gender dysphoria, fearing she would never be accepted as a woman – especially by her peers. 

During a boxing convention in Thailand, Kellie recalls: “We were chatting about the beautiful woman an American promoter had taken home.

“But he said, ‘I put my hand down her knickers and she had a bigger pair than me… so I kicked the f*** out of her.’

“I realised how could I ever tell these people how I felt inside when this was what they thought of transgender people?”  

By 1999, Kellie had consulted gender doctors and was beginning to experiment. In New York, she attended a trans-friendly bar where she could dress as a woman away from prying eyes. 

She said: “I went there and a couple of gay guys dressed me and did my make-up and took me upstairs, where these guys were sat. 

“It was quite seedy. One started touching me, saying ‘You’re very beautiful, do you want to get to know me? There are plenty of rooms.’ I freaked out and left.”

I don’t understand what you are going through but I would prefer to have my dad in a dress than in a wooden box

Emma, Kellie’s daughter

On her way home, she realised she had forgotten her wife’s birthday and a commitment to host a press dinner for Lennox ahead of his first of two fights against Evander Holyfield, the second of which led him to be crowned world champion.

Opening Pandora’s box

Kellie resigned from Lennox’s team in 2001 shortly after the boxer’s defeat to Hasim Rahman. She went on to manage others, including Darren Sutherland, who took his own life in 2009. 

The trauma of finding the Irish boxer’s body at his home after a concerning phone call, caused Kellie to have a heart attack. 

That year, she continued to struggle. She found herself drinking heavily, battling insomnia and speaking to numerous counsellors.  

She explained: “The counsellors told me, the day you take off the lid of Pandora’s box and let Kellie out, you will never be able to put that lid back on.”

Kellie recalls the heartbreaking moment in 2010 when broke down and confessed all to her wife, Tracey, who was deeply concerned that “nothing seemed to make him happy”.

Kellie recalls: “She put her arms around me. I looked at her and went, ‘I don’t know how to say this, I’m like you. I’m a woman.’ I saw the change in her eyes and from that moment onwards, I knew my marriage was over.” 

Despite the admission, Tracey says she was “willing to live a lie” and “keep the secret forever” to keep their family together, but Kellie knew that wasn’t an option and started to live as a woman in private. 

In 2014, Kellie came out to the world and that same year entered Celebrity Big Brother, for which she was reportedly paid £400,000 – the highest fee offered at the time. 

“It was the wrong decision, I wasn’t ready but I was very hot property at the time. Everybody wanted me and I was being offered quite a bit of money,” she says. 

“I wish I’d waited a year. I was a very weak person when I first transitioned, I was so afraid of rejection, failure and ridicule. 

“Frank helped me get through all of that. Now I’m much stronger. If I went on Celebrity Big Brother today I’d probably win it.”

I remember exact words to me, she said, ‘This is some f***ing joke, isn’t it?’ It was frightening and horrible

Kellie

Housemates inside the Big Brother house are cut-off from the outside world but Kellie says she was allowed to telephone her counsellors and had “a session most days”. 

Suicide attempts

Reaching the point where she came out was no easy journey, with Kellie admitting she attempted to end her life four times – before and after transitioning. 

She says: “I tried to end my life multiple times, I felt that I had lost everything and really wanted to die at first.”

After one suicide attempt, daughter Emma told her: “I don’t understand what you are going through but I would prefer to have my dad in a dress than in a wooden box.” 

The last suicide attempt followed getting “mixed up with the wrong people” when she started seeing a woman, whose family wanted her to be Frank.

“This person said to me if only I could bring back Frank we could have a really lovely relationship and it really freaked me out… it got to the point where my head was so confused and mixed up,” Kellie says. 

She was drinking heavily and, on the night of the attempt, recorded messages for each of her children before taking “every pill that I could find”.

Thankfully, Kellie – who was staying in Portugal – was found by her friend and counsellor Jan, who quickly rushed her to hospital.

Later, when she tried to take her life again, Emma pleaded: “What are you doing dad? We need you in our life?” 

Emma gave her a note to read in hard times about focusing on the future instead of present-day struggles. Kellie still reads it regularly. 

‘Frank’s not dead’

Kellie admits telling her youngest daughter Libby was “the hardest” thing for her because “she was 11 years old and I was destroying her life”.

She recalls: “I remember exact words to me, she said, ‘This is some f***ing joke, isn’t it?’ It was frightening and horrible.”

I learned a lot from Frank, I never died, I just changed my outside covering.

Kellie

Similarly, Kellie’s brother Eugene didn’t initially approve, telling the documentary: “When it first came out, if I had seen Kellie I’d have killed her.” 

But over time, their opinions shifted as they realised she was still the person they knew and loved, just with a “changed outside covering” as Kellie says.

She’s bonded with her daughters over choosing outfits and learning make-up skills and Eugene eventually said: “She’s a lot happier as Kellie than she was as Frank. I just wish she hadn’t taken 60 f***ing years to do it.”

Kellie, who splits her time between the UK and Portugal, says she enjoys a quieter life and is the happiest she has been in many years.

“I’m not hiding from anybody now. I don’t have to put on this persona,” she tells us. 

“I don’t have to be this Jack the Lad or this tough, little South London Cockney character that drank champagne and said what he wanted without even thinking. 

While Kellie likes to help others, she insists she is “no trans activist” as she believes the “transgender umbrella is far too big” 

She says: “We know we are not biological women and accept we are medically constructed women, our bodies have been modified to match our brains. 

“The term transgender covers about 71 or more types of people. You can’t pull us all under the same thing, for example gender neutral will never have an operation or go what we went through.”

She also believes women’s spaces “must be protected” and only transgender women, who have undergone gender reassignment should be able to use them

“Let’s put it bluntly, if you have a penis, you should not be able to go in and strip off,” Kellie says. “Once you have had surgery you are not a threat to any other woman.”

Despite having publicly lived as a woman for 10 years now, Kellie says there are occasions when she’s referred to “as Frank” – but it doesn’t bother her. 

She says: “I don’t find that disrespectful because to me he is not dead. Frank is a part of Kellie, as much as Kellie is a part of Frank. 

“People have known me by that name for 60 years and life’s too short to worry about things like that so long as it’s not malicious or nasty.

“Some transgender people believe their male side no longer exists after transitioning but that’s not true for me I believe combining the two made me a much better person.

“I learned a lot from Frank, I never died, I just changed my outside covering.”

Knock Out Blonde: The Kellie Maloney Story is available on the Icon Film Channel today and airs in select cinemas from September 9.

Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk