Listen: Ricky Martin Reveals Why He Came Out – His Dad's Encouragement

Out singer Ricky Martin said that it was his dad asking what kind of example he wanted to set for his children that prompted him to come out in 2010, despite advice from others to stay in the closet.

"In a new interview on SiriusXM's Andy Cohen Live, the Puerto Rican superstar revealed his father, Enrique, encouraged him to take a leap of faith and come out as gay to his fans in order to live his truth," People Magazine reported.

Martin recalled his father demanding, "What are you gonna [do], teach your kids to lie?" after the arrival of his twin children in 2008. "You gotta be open."

Martin's dad didn't just give advice; he offered to be there for Martin as he undertook the journey out of the closet.

"I want to help you," Martin quoted his father telling him. "How can we do this?"

"And I'm like, 'Alright, Dad, I'm working on it. Gimme a second,'" the "Palm Royale" star recounted. "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."

His mother, too, was supportive, saying that she was only worried for Martin's happiness.

"She was concerned because she was, 'Oh my God, I just don't want you to hurt and people out there are really cruel,'" Martin recalled her telling him when, at age 18, he came out to her.

Martin was strategic in going about it, he said, explaining that he "made sure she was on an airplane on her way to see me" when he broke the news.

Supportive messages like those he got from his parents were not what he heard from professional associates, though.

"Don't. This is going to be the end of your career," he recalled being told by his team, per Business Insider.

"Everybody knows around you. You don't have to tell the world," Martin said he was told. "Your friends know, your family know. Why do you need to stand in front of the camera and talk about it?"

"Family values" seems a pretty good answer to that, as does the relief of living authentically.

"I wish I could come out 20 times," Martin told Cohen. "It felt amazing."

"Of course, I started crying like a baby," the "Livin' La Vida Loca" singer went on to add. "You know, I pressed send and I was like, 'Oh, that's it?' My assistant who's still my assistant, Paco, he was next to me and I'm like, 'I think I need a hug.'"

Listen to the interview here.

Things got even juicier when, during an appearance on Cohen's televised show "Watch What Happens Live," Cohen got down to a little "pillow talk" with Martin, asking about even more personal matters, including his first celebrity crush ("John Travolta," Martin answered), his foot fetish ("I just love feet!" Martin exclaimed), whether it's "the size of the vessel or the motion in the ocean" that matters more to him, and how he would "describe yourself as a lover in three words."

To this last, Martin responded, "Generous, caring, and passionate."

"I love this man!" Cohen declared, no doubt speaking for Martin's fans as well.

Watch the cute exchange below.