Gus Kenworthy Tells ‘Hollywood Medium’ Tyler Henry How Traumatic Past Inspired His Olympic Career

Gus Kenworthy Tells 'Hollywood Medium' Tyler Henry How Traumatic Past Inspired His Olympic Career

"Hollywood Medium" Tyler Henry connects the Olympic skier with a friend whose death pushed him towards greatness.

Before Gus Kenworthy went to the 2018 Winter Olympics, the freestyle skier sat down with "Hollywood Medium" Tyler Henry, who picked up on an emotional past that still affects Kenworthy to this day.

In a preview clip for "Hollywood Medium" below, Henry is able to connect Kenworthy with a friend whose death almost derailed his Olympic career — but ultimately inspired his coming out.

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"I've wanted to hear some of those things for 12 years," a tearful Kenworthy says following his reading. "He was a huge part of my life. When I was a kid, he was one of my best friends. We had the same dreams and ambitions, and since he passed, even though I was young, I did kind of make it like my life's mission — at least for skiing and my skiing career — to do it and do it in a big way in his honor because of his loss and not let it be something where I feel like he died in vain."

Kenworthy's friend, who he calls Hoot, passed away 12 years ago after he and his group of friends had just gone skiing. Following a sunset photo shoot at the bottom of the mountain, Kenworthy and his friends piled onto the back of a snowcat to hitch a ride back up to the top. As the snowcat was going up the mountain, Hoot fell off the side, got caught in the track and was run over.

Kenworthy was overwhelmed with guilt that his life was spared, and at the time of the accident, he had not told anyone that he was gay.

"When Hoot passed away, I remember wishing and feeling like, had it been me that died instead, everyone would have just remembered me in this great way, and no one would have ever had to know this secret that I thought was a dark secret," Kenworthy says. "I felt guilt that he had died and not me. I felt he didn't deserve to, and I did."

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"After he passed, I basically dedicated my whole career to him," Kenworthy continues. "I think that talking with Hoot today kind of reminded me that it's not just me and my pride and my ego and my career, but I'm also doing it in his honor and I'm doing it for the LGBT community."

'Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry' Season 3 premieres Wednesday, February 28 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on E!

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