After coming out

Ralf Schumacher: No sham marriage with ex-wife Cora

Cora and Ralf Schumacher

(Bild: picturedesk.com/Eibner / EXPA)

After coming out, Ralf Schumacher (49) denies that he had a marriage of convenience. "I was married to a woman I loved, with whom I have a wonderful son," said the former Formula 1 racing driver in an interview with the magazine "Bunte". 

"Do you think I would have lasted 14 years with a woman if our marriage had been a fake construct? Such unbelievable nonsense."

In the double interview with his partner Étienne Bousquet-Cassagne (34), Schumacher described rumors and questions about this as "so stupid" that it "really annoyed" him. Ralf Schumacher made his homosexuality public a good two months ago and announced his relationship with his boyfriend Etienne.

Outing was a surprise for Etienne
In an RTL interview, the first excerpts of which were shown on the morning show "Punkt 6", Schumacher said about the timing of this step: "I was a bit worried recently - because we had a lot of guests here in the summer, we're always out together - that it would come out at some point. I didn't want to chase after it, I wanted to stay in front and have a say in it myself."

Although the couple had agreed on the announcement, the fact that he made the relationship public with a post at this point was a surprise for Bousquet-Cassagne: "I told him five minutes later, please take a look," reported Schumacher.

Cora "neither cheated nor lied to"
Ralf Schumacher is the brother of seven-time Formula 1 world champion Michael Schumacher and used to be a successful racing driver himself. He was married to Cora Schumacher, but the couple have been separated for many years.

Cora repeatedly criticized him publicly for not having been informed about his coming out. "She was neither deceived nor lied to by us," Bousquet-Cassagne replied in an interview with "Bunte".