I was born in São Caetano do Sul, a city in San Paulo. My parents got divorced when I was 13, so we lived with my mum. My family wasn’t well-off, they were working and paying their bills but we were never really in a very comfortable situation. There was always a bit of difficulty – but that’s most families in Brazil.
I went to college and I graduated in finance. I got a job in a bank and after five years had no English whatsoever. At that stage, my manager was putting pressure on me to learn because I was dealing with American banks. Eventually I thought ‘I need to go abroad and learn English’. So that’s how it started. I began searching for a place to go.
I wanted to be in a country that was close to history and different cultures. The options were America, Australia, England, Ireland and Malta. I thought ‘Irish people have a bit of a buzz and they love socialising’. So that was it! I wanted to stay in a place where I knew I was going to be welcomed, and Ireland has been welcoming since day one. I love it here, I really do. It’s a lot easier to be gay in Ireland; people judge you a lot less than in Brazil.