The photos of the kisses with Alessandro Cecchi Paone have caused some trouble for Simone Antolini, the 23-year-old boyfriend who was caught on the boat with him: “The neighbors who thought I was straight now insult me.”
“The neighbors I served at the counter for years write terrible things. One asked me, ‘Are you at least paying yourself well?’” is how the outburst of begins Simone Antolini, 23-year-old friend of Alessandro Cecchi Paone, in the Corriere della Sera. After the photos in the boat of the weekly magazine Chi and the confirmation of the conductor and journalists who told their love story to Fanpage.it, a difficult time began for young Simone. As a student employed behind the counter at the family business, he was overwhelmed with insults.
For me it was the end of the world. I am young and very sensitive. Neighbors, people I see every day wrote terrible things that hurt me. They are the same ones I have served at the counter for years. Today, while I’m waiting to graduate, I take care of the accounts and administration of my father’s farm, I know everyone and everyone knows me: I didn’t expect a similar reaction in my own community. Among other things, it was written that I’m 26, instead I’m 23, and there was absurd speculation about it.
Simone, friend of Cecchi Paone: “The comments of friends’ parents hurt me”
“I was painted in a way I don’t deserve. I’m doing well with my studies, I’ve got good grades, I can’t wait to finish university and compete in public administration competitions,” Simone continued. “The comments from strangers didn’t bother me, they hurt me, people who may be the parents of my friends, my schoolmates, whose child I could be. Up until a few days ago I was loved by everyone, I think appreciated as a nice and kind boy, suddenly I was dealing with people who transformed me from appreciation to disgust. One asked me: Does it at least pay you well?”. What caused him the most trouble and an avalanche of insults, he explains, is the fact that he has not yet publicly disclosed his sexual orientation:
I had not disclosed my condition yet. I wanted to do it with my parents first: they knew I was with Alessandro, maybe they were imagining it, but I hadn’t had the opportunity to dialogue with them. So everyone thought I was straight and now they think he went gay to be famous. i love cinema But the only audition I attended was a demonstration that it’s better to think about your studies first.
Simone Antolini: “It was me who was looking for Alessandro Cecchi Paone”
Simone confirms what Alessandro Fanpage.it already said: “I wrote to him on Instagram. I got out of my first gay relationship. Before that, I had a girlfriend for four years and had many doubts. Watching TV during the pandemic, I discovered that Alessandro had a wife. The similarity of experiences made me follow him on social networks. We wrote to each other. I met him in Rimini. We started talking a lot. It was April. I found in him a person who understands me, who protects me”. Like the presenter and the reporter, not even he doubts their relationship:
Cecchi Paone: “Simone had to close his profile because of homophobic threats and insults”
I’m fine and that’s the most important thing. I’m totally lost by him. Ever since he came into my life I’m sure of who I am, he sparked an interest in me for art, science, history. I can listen to it for hours and it has made me double focus on my studies. It added a desire to get better to my life.
Simone Antolini’s parents: “They weren’t happy”
In conclusion, Simone says the parents didn’t appreciate that they only found out publicly that their child had done it a relationship with Cecchi Paone: “They weren’t happy to hear about a magazine, but now they just want me to be happy and find my peace of mind. And I, bad comments aside, found it and want to keep it around.