Ricky Martin Opens Up to Dr. Oz

 

Tomorrow, Dr. Oz is joined by Ricky Martin, who found fame at age 12 as a member of the popular Latin American boy band, “Menudo,” and famously came out as gay in 2010.

On how his kids play a huge part in his everyday life, Ricky Martin explains: “Everything that I do, every decision that I make is based on them—is based on their well-being. That was a commitment that I made when I decided to become a father. And they are a little bit like my religion because, they don’t know it, but they’re like little life-savers. Because once again, when I have to make a decision, whatever that decision is, I think of them and it turns out to be the right decision.”

On his struggle with high cholesterol from a young age, Ricky Martin reveals: “When I was 18-years-old, the doctor told me, “Why is your cholesterol so high?” Tell me if I’m wrong, Doctor—if you’re 18 and you’re cholesterol is high, it’s genetics, right? But obviously, when you’re 18-years-old, you don’t care—you ignore it completely. Sometimes when you’re 45, you’re still ignoring it. But three years ago—excuse me, five years ago—the doctor said, “We need to really focus on this.”

On becoming a vegetarian, Ricky Martin shares: “I’m a Latin man—I love meat, I love seasoning, I love greasy stuff. And I love my typical food from Puerto Rico. It’s fried, I just love it and it tastes really good. So what can we do? I started...I started…I became a vegetarian—slowly, I didn’t do it drastically. First, I started eliminating the red meat, and the chicken, then the fish. And then it was all vegetables. How did I do that? I don’t know. If you told me when I was 20 that I was going to become a vegetarian, I would’ve been like, you’re crazy—that’s never going to happen. But I’ve lived a very healthy vegetarian lifestyle for three and a half, four years.”