Los Angeles, March 22 (IANS): Singer Ricky Martin shared that his father, Enrique Martin Negroni, encouraged him to come out as gay and added that his professional team encouraged him to continue concealing his sexuality.

"'This is gonna be the end of your career'," he recalled being told, reports people.com.

"You don't have to tell the world. Your friends know, your family know. Why do you need to stand in front of the camera and talk about it?"

While his team "didn't understand the importance" of coming out, the singer's father did, especially after the 'Maria' hitmaker welcomed his twin sons, Matteo and Valentino, in 2008.

"He said, 'What are you gonna (do), teach your kids to lie? You gotta be open. You gotta go out... I want to help you. How can we do this?'" said the Grammy winner.

"And I'm like, 'All right, Dad, I'm working on it. Gimme a second. I don't know how. I don't know if it's through an interview. I don't know if I want to write a letter and tweet it. I don't know. Gimme a break. It'll come'."

He came out to his mom at age 18.

"She was concerned because she was, 'Oh my God, I just don't want you to hurt and people out there are really cruel', and so it took her a minute to accept it. But obviously when I did it, I made sure she was on an airplane on her way to see me. So, she was on her airplane, and I did what I did," Ricky said.

"I wrote a letter, and I tweeted it."

Ultimately, coming out was rewarding for Ricky.

"I wish I could come out 20 times. It felt amazing. Of course, I started crying like a baby. You know, I pressed send and I was like, 'Oh, that's it?'" he said.

"My assistant who's still my assistant, Paco, he was next to me and I'm like, 'I think I need a hug'."