Thursday, 19 October 2006

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Lance Armstrong & Matthew McConaughey: We're not gay

Armstrong and McConaughey laugh off rumors that they're more than just friends

Lance Armstrong and Matthew McConaughey are laughing off questions about their sexuality and rumors that they're anything more than just pals.

"We tried it. Wasn't for us," McConaughey jokes to Details magazine in a new interview that addresses rumors about them – and pal Jake Gyllenhaal – being gay.

Armstrong says his newly-close relationship with McConaughey grew out of the fact that they were both suddenly single at the same time. McConaughey had broken up with actress Penelope Cruz and Armstrong had called off his engagement to singer Sheryl Crow.

"Our friendship just kind of developed," the cycling champ tells the magazine for its November issue. "He got out of a relationship; I'd just gotten out of a relationship."

Armstrong, who has known McConaughey for eight years, stresses that despite the raised-eyebrows they've gotten due to photos of them – often shirtless – biking, running and partying together, they are just buddies.

"I think people see pictures and they think we're these overgrown frat guys, but we all have those kinds of relationships – and relationship isn't a bad word," says Armstrong. "I mean, we all have buds, we all take guy trips, but you take something very normal and you put it in a magazine, and people start talking. "

He goes on to say, "It's like, either you sleep with anything that moves or you're gay. They can't figure it out."

McConaughey goes further to defend their relationship saying, "A lot of people don’t understand friendship and brotherhood. I have a great friend in him. I’d do anything he asked me to, even though he’d probably never ask me to, and he feels the same way. It’s fun going out and living life and doing things at the drop of a hat. LiveStrong just happens to be the most deliberate guy I’ve ever met."

Armstrong, 35, calls McConaughey, 36, the "Redneck Buddha," and says the actor's laid back style has been a good influence on him – especially when it comes to gossip. "His idea is like, 'Look, it is what it is, so go out there and have fun.' He’s truly carefree – which is to say, he truly doesn't care."

The seven time Tour de France winner also admits in the interview that he hasn't quite yet recovered from his split from Crow, especially the public's reaction. "We couldn't get it right, we couldn't get it wrong," he says. "Just a lot of back-and-forth. But we had a love for each other, and I think we still do."