In an interview with PWF Empire Live, former Tough Enough contestant Luke Robinson (who lost in the finals to Andy Leavine) spoke about the rumors that he did gay porn and his belief that some in WWE are homophobic. Here are highlights:
On the rumors that he did gay porn: “About two weeks before we were flown to Florida for the FCW taping, I get a call from the executive producer. He goes ‘Who’s Donnie Drake? What’s this Donnie Drake stuff?’ After college, I worked for two companies that market what they call ‘custom videos to a homosexual audience.’ I’m fully-clothed in normal wrestling gear, there’s no sex acts, no nudity, (just suggestive holds, nothing that you couldn’t see on Monday Night RAW). They wanted attractive guys with muscles and they market it to a homosexual audience. I put it on my background check … it wasn’t a secret. I never compromised my morals or values. You know when you’re a babyface selling? You’re crawling up the heel, using his kneepads and tights to pull yourself up. Someone made a crude photoshop picture that got passed around… (on the internet it got distorted to ‘Luke did gay porn’).”
On homophobia in WWE: “(A buddy of Luke’s) was trying out in FCW, he was down there when John Laurinaitis was down there. (A couple of weeks after the Tough Enough finale, people were asking) ‘What happened to that Luke Robinson kid from Tough Enough?’ My buddy called me and said the direct quote from John Laurinaitis was ‘We don’t need any of that homo sh*t here…’ That was four years ago, and obviously you have Darren Young now. Now they use some of this PR stuff in a positive light to paint the picture that they’re a very philanthropic company. Stephanie McMahon’s admitted in an interview with Forbes that ‘the future of marketing is philanthropy’. I’m not saying it’s not wonderful that they promote the anti-bullying and Make A Wish, but the fact is there’s a lot of bullying and bad things that go on behind the stage.”
On Ariane/Cameron getting hired out of all the season five contestants: “For the most part (WWE) does not want people who like wrestling. They don’t want you to be too much of a mark, too starstruck. They love it if you don’t want to be there. I almost feel like they get off on it… if you don’t want or care about wrestling. I think it’s because they know that they can either mold you, or you’ll be a sheep. You don’t really care, it’s like ‘Whatever. I’ll do whatever you want me to do. I just want to be on TV.’”
On not winning Tough Enough: “I wouldn’t change a thing. Not winning Tough Enough, in the end, ended up being one of the biggest blessing in disguise in my life. I don’t believe that things happen for a reason; I believe the happiest people make a reason for that to have happened. I don’t believe that I was meant to lose Tough Enough. I think my life would have been great if I had won it, but instead I had to find a reason for myself to have lost. What I ended up creating is the business that I have now (Wolfpack Fitness).”
