Ricky Martin: 'I Would Bully People Who I Knew Were Gay'

Back in 2010, Puerto Rican singer Ricky Martin came out as a proud gay man. But in the latest issue of GQ Australia Magazine, the 41-year-old star confessed he bullied gay men while he was growing up.

"I look back now and realize I would bully people who I knew were gay," said Martin, according to the Daily Mail. "I had internalized homophobia. To realize that was confronting to me. I wanted to get away from that."

Martin came out via a statement on his website. "Writing this is a solid step towards my inner peace and vital part of my evolution. I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man," he wrote. "I am very blessed to be who I am."

The "Come With Me" singer opened up about struggling with his sexuality and how becoming a father to twin boys Valentino and Mateo changed his life.

"I didn't want [my twin sons] growing up in a house of lies ... or thinking that there was something wrong with being gay," Martin told GQ Australia.

Martin's former girlfriend, TV presenter Rebecca de Alba, was shocked when the singer came out as a gay man. Martin and de Alba had an on-again, off-again relationship for some time, until the Puerto Rican singer admitted his homosexuality in 2010. According to Latin Times, in several interviews Martin claimed their relationship was "genuine" and that by dating de Alba he wasn't trying to cover up his sexuality. Martin said he was really in love with the TV host.

"Sometimes you can't explain what it is exactly that attracts you to someone, that amazing magnetism. Everything that I felt at that moment was pure. A lot of people might say, 'Well, you were trying to justify yourself; maybe you were trying to prove yourself ...' It is complicated ... but, at that moment, it felt real; it felt amazing," said Martin during a VH1 "Behind The Music" special in 2011.

The Grammy award-winning star was one of the favorite coaches on "The Voice Australia," the No. 1 rated television show in the country. Martin recently scheduled a tour in the country that kicks off in Melbourne on Oct. 5 and ends in the U.S. on Oct. 20.

Martin recently dicussed his experience on "The Voice" in an interview with LArry King: "I felt the outpouring of love, and I could feel the criticism, too, but I loved that. I love the honesty and the truth. People tell it like it is in Australia."