Gus Kenworthy’s ‘father figure’ is Anderson Cooper

Olympic freeskier Gus Kenworthy has discovered one of the perks of being a famous openly gay man: You get to be friends with the other power gays.

Gus says he and Anderson Cooper have become fast friends since he told the world he is gay in an ESPN cover story last October.

‘He’s a total sweetheart. He’s sort of turned into a father figure to me,’ Gus tells Rolling Stone.

‘He reached out and offered advice after I came out. Basically, he said, “If you need anything, just ask. I understand what it’s like to be out in the public eye.” He said, “You’re a great kid.” So he’s been really supportive.

Gus appeared with Anderson and co-host Kathy Griffin on CNN’s live New Year’s Eve coverage from Times Square where he gave the Silver Fox a kiss in the cheek during a commercial break.

‘They arranged for me to be on the show for New Year’s Eve and it was one of the most surreal experiences: to be a skier from a small town and co-hosting a ball drop in Times Square was insane. It was out of the realm of anything I thought was possible. We got to overlook a sea of people. It was completely insane.’