In an interview for the new BBC documentary, A Life In 10 Pictures , Rose Pearson revealed that she noticed the first signs of Freddie Mercury during a visit to a museum. During his lifetime, the singer never publicly declared his sexual orientation, but it is known that he had relationships with at least two women and several men. His last relationship was with hairdresser Jim Hutton, with whom he remained until the end of his life.
Pearson was Mercury's first girlfriend, before Mary Austin , to whom the singer dedicated the song "Love Of My Life". According to the Daily Star, in her testimony, she recalled an episode that occurred at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, where Freddie allegedly saw a photographic exhibition by Eadweard Muybridge with images of naked men engaged in a fight.
“I could see that he was enamored in a way that went beyond artistic appreciation. Then we went to see Women In Love , and he was mesmerized by the fight scene. He wanted to stay in the theater and see the whole thing again,” Pearson recounted.
Pearson said her blood “ran cold” when she realized the implications that Mercury’s reaction could have. That incident was the “turning point” that led her to end her relationship with the singer. “I knew we weren’t the right people for each other and he desperately wanted a relationship with a man at the time. I couldn’t just stand by and watch.”
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