«I was not a son who looked like his father. But as a gay man I had sex with hundreds of women»- Corriere.it

“My father was a Southern male, very virile, dominant. Speaking of looking like him, I didn’t look like him, I wasn’t the son who looks like his dad, and this thing was a problem for him. He played a series of games to find out my homosexuality, but I didn’t buy it because I knew that if I admitted it it would be worse. I was sure that I would have an impossible life. Also for this situation awareness for me came very late, I had a lot of difficulty accepting myself ». Thus Rocco Casalino, communication manager of the M5S, recording the episode of Beasts aired this evening on Rai 2. The former Big Brother recalls the difficult life he had with his violent father in the family, especially against his mother, and says he “is unable to forgive”. And then, as over time, he lived his relationship with boys and girls. “Up until I was 35, I had a girlfriend with whom I had regular sex and at one point I convinced myself that I was some kind of bisexuality and that I could handle a heterosexual life. Also because», says Casalino, «I had a desire for a family life, for children. I insisted as hard as I could to be straight, had sex with hundreds of women. It seems strange? Me too”.

Casalino then spoke of politics. Regretting not having run for office in 2022, he promises to do so the next opportunity. After recalling that he has always been on the left, close to Fausto Bertinotti’s Communist Refoundation and then to the DS, and with the M5S since he was born, the story is about his origins in the Movement. “I’ve never had protections”, in the M5S, “I started from the bottom, as a free press officer” and that’s how “I was able to demonstrate my skills, Casaleggio noticed me and I become a person very close to him, who was extraordinary and had no prejudices, for this I will always have to thank him. He is one of the very few people who has made me feel accepted for my professional qualities and my talent in communication, and for this I will have to thank him for the rest of my life ».

«How much does Conte owe me? Part of my vanity would say I’m behind it but I’m not. My ability is to enhance the characteristics of a person. Certainly, in the first phase I helped him in a simpler communication, to let the human side shine through, but the credit is all to him ». We both owe something to each other, I learned a lot from him, I grew up with him and I changed and I think he took something from me. We both helped each other.” And when asked if he feels abandoned by Conte today, Casalino replies: «I don’t feel abandoned. He has a different role but I still care about his communication. There is no longer the role of spokesperson, nobody has it. There was no estrangement.”

While with regard to the so-called «Rocco Code», or the conditions dictated to allow the participation of the Five Stars in the media, Casalino recounts: «The “Rocco Code” does not exist. I was good at negotiating and I rejected televised chicken coops where whoever screams the loudest wins and I didn’t want to send our people on some kind of show. I was asking to create a situation in which to be able to talk about content. Bossy? No, it was respect for the Movement, which wanted to be respected, and not lend itself to being listened to. I’m asking for prestigious non-provocative journalists.”