Ryan Lochte Opens Up About Rio Incident on ‘Celebrity Big Brother’

Ryan Lochte, a 12-time Olympic medalist, and most recently a contestant on season 2 of Celebrity Big Brother, was shown in last night’s flashback episode opening up to the contestants about his highly controversial incident at a gas station in Rio during the 2016 Olympics. It started sitting on couches around a fire, when another contestant asked Lochte why he wanted to do the show. Lochte replied “I want people to see the real me… and not just the headlines.” He then alluded to his incident in Rio, and a few of the contestants seemed to not have known about it, and asked him what happened.

**For those of you who may not know about the ‘Rio Gas Station Incident’, here are a couple links to our coverage of the incident and its fallout, and a short summary of the events underneath:

• Additional Sponsors Part Ways With Ryan Lochte
• Ryan Lochte: ‘I Over-Exaggerated That Story’
• Lochte Suspended 10 Months, Conger, Bentz, Feigen 4 Months

Short Summary: Lochte and 3 other swimmers, Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz, and Jimmy Feigen, had gone out partying after swimming was over at the 2016 Rio Olympics. An incident then ensued at a local gas station, wherein the armed gas station owners accused the swimmers of vandalizing the store, and Lochte later told authorities they had been robbed at gun point. Lochte then admitted he “over-exaggerated” the story, and was put on trial for falsely claiming a crime. Lochte ultimately accepted a plea deal and was cleared of wrongdoing, but did get handed a 10-month suspension from USA Swimming, and lost multiple sponsorship deals, including Speedo, in the process.**

Lochte gave his account of the events and opened up in a pretty emotional way after being asked what had happened in Rio by Dina Lohan. Lochte began by saying the things were familiar with at this point, that he and some swimmers went out and got “hammered”, that he unintenionally broke a sign at the gas station, and that the owners came out with guns. Lochte then went on to say “They blamed us because I fabricated the story,” further explaining that “I said the gun was pointed at my head, but it was, like, from me to you (pointing at Dina, who was on the couch across from him). But when I told the story, I was still, like, REALLY drunk.”

Lochte then called post-Rio “the hardest time of my life,” because “I went from everyone loved me, and I was on top of the world, an then I was one of the most hated people.” But then Lochte stated, while beginning to tear up, that “worst part’ for him was having young swimmers tell him they no longer look up to him. He said, “I’m a role model for these kids, and when I get messages saying ‘You should die,’ and ‘I thought you were my role model; you’re not anymore,’ that is what really got me.”

Last Fall, Lochte’s lawyer announced Lochte was seeking treatment for alcohol addiction, and at least on CBB, Lochte never appeared to have been shown drinking alcohol with the other contestants.