Johnny Weir

“I have been a figure skater for so long that when I stopped that competitive day-to-day grind, I didn't know what to do with myself. I don't know how the world works outside of being barked at by a Ukrainian woman and watching my weight.”

“I am often criticized for spending too much time off the ice, but if you were in my shoes, you'd see how necessary it is.”

“Figure skating is theatrical, and a part of it is wearing costumes. My costumes were very over-the-top and outrageous for figure skating. But for me, it's all beautiful. Even when nobody else believed they were beautiful, I felt beautiful in them.”

“Figure skating is a bit dated - it's like that tweed jacket you pull out of the back of your closet from time to time, and I'm going to try to Chanel it up a little bit.”

“I'd say in general, my style is Johnny Weir style. It's my style. I can't classify it as anything else.”

“To me, figure skating is an art form, and that's what I always try to bring in, even to my competitive programs.”

“I got into figure skating for the art of it, as well as the sport, and how much I love it. And, you know, I do everything that I want. I march to my own drummer. Sometimes people have an issue with that, and I can't control it.”

“I never ever wanted to change my sport... Figure skating was my outlet, it was my breath, it was how I could live and transmit everything I was feeling and everything I had worked for and given up and all these sacrifices I'd made throughout the years. It was how I could make them all worth it.”

“Nobody gets lucky all the time. Nobody can win all the time. Nobody's a robot. Nobody's perfect.”

“In spite of all the skills that I do have, to relate to the normal world I have no applicable skills. I can speak Russian, I can speak French. I know about Chanel. Especially vintage Chanel. I know what Halston is. All of these things, but they can't really be applied to a nine-to-five.”

“Fashion is something that I want to be involved with for a long time, and I want to show that I can give people what they want while still keeping my pizzazz and my razzle-dazzle.”

“Masculinity is what you believe it to be. I think masculinity and femininity is something that's very old-fashioned. There's a whole new generation of people who aren't defined by their sex or race or who they like to sleep with.”

“I'd love to learn how to foxtrot and cha cha. Believe it or not, I have terrible dancing skills. I can do everything on the ice, but as soon as you put me on the ground, I'm that person that falls down walking off a curb.”

“Figure skating is theatrical. It's artistic. It's elegant. It's extremely athletic. And there's a very specific audience for that.”

“I love skating and sparkling and flying around the ice, and people clap for you. It's an amazing feeling.”

“Now the fact that people are saying, 'Oh my God, he's finally come out' - I was never in.”

“I don't want to spend my life on an ice cube.”

“I would love to be a spokes model for Karl Lagerfeld or Balenciaga or something like that.”

“I've lived my whole life exactly the way I've wanted to. Being gay, being white, being male, it doesn't matter to me. They're all things I'm born with.”

“I totally understand that I am a little outrageous in some ways... I'm a little un-P.C., but I really wish I had the chance to perform for the American fans.”