Whoa, Ryan Lochte was coming clean and choking up in his interview with Matt Lauer when he confessed that he ‘over-exaggerated’ his alleged robbery in Rio during the Olympics. Click here to see Ryan’s tears and emotional confession.
Ryan Lochte, 32, was finally prepared to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth when he sat down with Matt Lauer to give an interview, which aired on Aug. 20 on NBC Nightly News, regarding the “over-exaggerated” claims he made about being robbed at gunpoint in Rio during the Olympic games. And things got REAL as Ryan actually began to tear up when Matt brought up how the swimmer’s actions had affected his teammates.
Matt questioned how Ryan felt when he was sitting at home in the U.S., while the three other swimmers who were with him on the night of the alleged robbery — Jack Conger, Gunnar Bentz and Jimmy Feigen — were stuck in Brazil. “Hurt, I mean I let my team down,” Ryan said, as he held back tears. “I wanted to be there, I don’t want them to think that I left. And um, left them dry, cause they’re my teammates and I definitely wanted to be there. And I wanted to help out anyway I could. And so I just wanted to make sure they were home safe before I came out and talked.”
“I’m embarrassed for myself, my family, especially those guys, USA Swimming, the whole Olympic Games, everyone watching,” a glassy-eyed Ryan continued. “It’s just, I was immature and I made a stupid mistake. I’m human. I made a mistake, and I definitely learned from this. I’m just really sorry.” Someone hand the man a tissue!
Ryan Lochte & Michael Phelps — SEE PICS
“This is why I’m taking full responsibility for my actions, because if I didn’t over-exaggerate the story to what I said when I did it when it first happened with Billy Bush, and yourself and I told you the full story, none of this would have happened,” Ryan said when Matt asked if he thought coming clean earlier would have helped out his teammates. “We wouldn’t be here, we wouldn’t be sitting here discussing this. None of this would have happened, it was my immature behavior.” At least Ryan does appear to have serious regrets about his actions in Rio. The rest of Ryan’s interview will air on Aug. 22’s Today show.
HollywoodLifers, do you think Ryan is really remorseful? Let us know below!