David Luiz breaks the rumor mill on live TV
It’s not often a Champions League regular has to go on television to shut down gossip about his sex life. But that’s what David Luiz did. The Paris Saint-Germain defender appeared on BBC’s Football Focus and said, in plain terms, “I’m not a virgin,” after a week of headlines claimed he was abstaining from sex until marriage.
How did we even get here? It started with a deeply personal moment. Earlier in the week, Luiz was baptized in the indoor pool of his PSG teammate Maxwell. He shared the moment on Instagram with a Bible verse from 2 Corinthians 5:17 — a straightforward declaration of faith about renewal and new beginnings. He added a message about putting God at the center of his life and feeling grateful. Nothing about abstinence. Nothing about a vow.
Still, his post lit a fuse. In a rush to connect dots, outlets framed Luiz’s baptism as a pledge to remain celibate until marriage — a narrative borrowed straight from the story of Kaka, another Brazilian star whose well-known commitment to wait until marriage became a defining part of his public image. Soon, quotes appeared suggesting Luiz had said, “I have chosen to wait.” The problem? He hadn’t.
On the BBC, Luiz set the record straight. He said he was happy about his faith and his baptism, and he was blunt about the rest: the virginity talk wasn’t true. He also took a moment to call out the way some corners of the press handle private lives, saying, “Some people in the press don’t respect people in life. I can put my head on my pillow and sleep great because I respect everyone.” That’s a footballer addressing the human side of the job — the part that isn’t measured by tackles, passes, or trophies.
Faith, fame, and the line between public and private
Footballers talk about tactics and training all the time. Faith? Not as often, but in Brazil it’s hardly unusual. Many players are open about their beliefs, from prayer circles after matches to simple gestures on the pitch. That openness can be disarming — and sometimes misread. A baptism photo, a verse, a heartfelt caption, and suddenly there’s a story that isn’t there.
Luiz’s case shows how quickly a narrative can take off when it echoes a familiar template. Kaka’s choice to remain celibate until marriage was public, on the record, and tied to his faith. It made sense to people, and it stuck. When Luiz posted about his baptism, some outlets slotted him into the same storyline without checking whether the details matched. They didn’t.
What makes this one stickier is the setting. Baptism is a milestone for Christians — a reset, a recommitment. Luiz’s post quoted “the old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” It’s reflective, not prescriptive. It doesn’t say anything about what you do — or don’t do — in your relationship. By the time the rumor had done the rounds, the nuance was gone. The BBC spot gave him the space to bring it back.
There’s also the everyday reality of being a modern footballer. Social media offers a direct line to fans, a place to own your story. It’s also a megaphone that can turn misreadings into headlines in a few hours. Luiz’s fix was to go where the speculation started — public and loud — and answer it without dodging. Simple, clear, and, frankly, human.
Strip away the noise, and you’re left with a player who wanted to share a personal moment and got tagged with an invented one. He’s not asking for special treatment, just basic fairness: don’t make claims about his life that he hasn’t made himself. That’s not a big ask.
On the pitch, he had plenty going on. Luiz moved from Chelsea to PSG in June 2014 for a fee widely reported at £40 million, one of the highest for a defender at the time. He played 143 times for Chelsea and scored 12 goals — not bad for a center-back known as much for his range of passing and free-kicks as for his defending. Earlier this season, he scored against his former club to help PSG knock Chelsea out of the Champions League. PSG’s run ended in the quarter-finals against Barcelona, who went on to reach the final, but Luiz’s influence was obvious in the way he stepped into midfield, took responsibility on the ball, and didn’t shy away from big moments.
That mix — emotionally open off the field, bold on it — is part of why he draws such strong reactions. Some love the risk-taking, the personality, the smile. Others focus on the mistakes, the adventurous positioning, the hair that makes every sprint look like a sprint-and-a-half. Either way, he’s never boring. This week added a different kind of drama, one far from tactics boards and training pitches.
What does this all say about the wider game? First, players’ faith lives aren’t a puzzle to solve. When someone shares a verse or a prayer, it doesn’t automatically point to a lifestyle declaration. Second, the speed of today’s rumor cycle rewards shortcuts: if it sounds familiar, it gets repeated. That’s where accuracy gets lost.
Luiz’s words on the BBC — happy about his religion and baptism, frustrated with the gossip — won’t stop every rumor. But they do reset the story to what actually happened. He was baptized. He shared it. He didn’t say he was abstinent. He went on air and said he wasn’t. End of story.
For PSG, the timing is also practical. The club needs calm around its key players as it chases domestic titles and European credibility. Distractions don’t help, especially around figures as central to the dressing room as Luiz. He’s there to win duels, hit diagonals, and lead from the back — not to spend his week batting away invented headlines.
It’s easy to forget that footballers live under constant scrutiny. Every post, every photo, every line in a caption becomes raw material for debate. When the topic is something as personal as faith or relationships, the stakes feel higher, the misreadings sharper. Luiz’s choice to correct the record quickly suggests a line he won’t let others cross: his life, his words, his call.
If there’s a lesson here for the rest of us, it’s simple: read what’s actually there, not what you expect to find. Luiz gave fans and followers a moment that mattered to him. The rest was noise. He turned down the volume himself.
- What happened: Luiz was baptized and posted about it on Instagram with a Bible verse and a message about faith.
- What people assumed: That he’d pledged celibacy until marriage, echoing Kaka’s past decision.
- What he said: On BBC’s Football Focus, “I’m not a virgin,” and a reminder to respect private lives.
- Where he is now: A key figure at PSG after a £40 million move from Chelsea, coming off a Champions League tie where he scored against his former club.
This was never a football problem. It was a story about interpretation — and a player taking back his own words.