Kellie Maloney is an iconic figure in sports and advocacy, recognised globally as one of Britain’s most successful boxing promoters and a leading diversity & inclusion speaker.
Kellie Maloney
Her decades-long career managing world champions like Lennox Lewis transformed boxing, while her courageous transition in 2014 made headlines and broke barriers for the transgender community.
Named ‘Transgender Champion’ at the 2015 Glamour Women of the Year Awards, Kellie’s life is a profound testament to authenticity, resilience, and reinvention.
From the ring to prime-time media through documentaries like From Frank to Kellie and Knockout Blonde, she continues to catalyse change — guiding audiences to embrace inclusion and confront stigma.
In this exclusive interview with The Champions Speakers Agency, Kellie shares deeply personal insights on authenticity, identity, and acceptance — revealing how living one’s truth can redefine leadership and inclusion for all.
Q1. You’ve spoken about knowing from an early age that you weren’t born into the right body. Why did you ultimately wait until after retirement to transition?
Kellie Maloney: “It’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? I don’t know. All my life I fought it. I think you have to understand you are a product of your society. I was born into a working-class Irish family that was mainly male-dominated.
“I was the oldest of three boys. My father was very sporty-minded, he was very competitive, and he encouraged us. I went into sport and I was quite good in the world of boxing. The more I got successful, the harder it became to face reality, and I just followed what was expected of me — meet a nice girl, get married, have a family, support that family. And I did.
“Do I regret not being able to transition early? Part of me, yes. Part of me regrets not being born in the right body and I wouldn’t have had to go through all these problems. But then I think to myself, if I didn’t live my life as Frank Maloney before I finally came to terms with myself as Kellie, I would not have the love and support of my daughters and family.
“Also, when I was growing up there wasn’t the understanding, there wasn’t the help, there wasn’t the support for transgender people. I saw what newspapers did to the two people that were quite high profile in the era when I was growing up and I swore that would never happen to me. I swore I would never let them rip my life apart and I would keep the lid on Pandora’s box. But I couldn’t.
“Eventually, I couldn’t live with myself. I couldn’t live living a lie. I was destroying everything around me — the life I built, the family I loved, the woman that was my partner. So I had to be honest with them, and I had to be honest with myself.”
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: When the Titans Fall: Giorgio Armani’s Final Bow & Anna Wintour’s Passing of the Torch.
Q2. What does diversity and inclusion mean to you, and why do you see it as so vital in today’s world?
Kellie Maloney: “Diversity and inclusion means acceptance — acceptance of people. As I said, you don’t have to understand, you don’t have to agree with what I’ve done. You may think what I’ve done is totally wrong, against your religion, and I have come across that. But as long as you respect me as a human being, that’s the most important thing.
“Diversity is something that we all live. Every human being is different to the other human beings, so we’ve all got diversity in our life. But we all want to be included in the human race, and that’s the most important thing — being included in, and accepted in, the human race.”
Q3. Why is raising awareness and providing support for the LGBT+ community still so important?
Kellie Maloney: “Some people need support and help. I’m a very individual person, I don’t like to be tagged. And I also have to say in that, my gender and my sexuality are two different things. I believe my gender is who I go to bed as at night and my sexuality is who I wake up next to.
“At this present moment, I’ve not woke up next to anybody since I transitioned, so my sexuality is still unknown to myself and to the world. But my gender is female. And I don’t need to be tagged or put into a little box, because I’m quite a strong person and I have great family support.
“But other people need the support of that sort of group. I needed it when I first started, when I went to my transgender support groups. That’s why I think we need them and we need people to support them, because there are people out there that all their life will need that support to get through. It’s very important. But I think we should understand that gender and sexuality are two different things.”
This exclusive interview with Kellie Maloney was conducted by Megan Lupton of The Motivational Speakers Agency.
