Ryan Lochte recently opened up about the 2016 Rio Olympics incident that he says “changed my entire life,” and the athlete teared up as he reflected on that time. PEOPLE exclusively reported on the interview that Lochte did with Alex Rodriguez for the former MLB star’s new CNBC show, Back in the Game, which will feature the baseball icon mentoring other sports stars and entertainers who suffered a fall from grace. “One mistake changed my entire life,” Lochte said of the situation, wherein he lied to police about being robbed. “I went from hero to zero. I’m just trying to fight my way back to the top again.”
Rodriguez then shared a little about his own controversy, when he faced major backlash for lying about steroid usage during his time as a professional baseball player. “I know exactly what you feel like. I can relate cause I had my same issues,” he said. “It was crushing for me to disappoint my mother and my daughters. I felt like I let an entire nation down.”
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Lochte than began to tear up, saying, “When you say that it hits me. I feel like I did let down a lot of people. I am a role model and I want to be the best role model for people.”
Rodriguez then elaborated on how he handled his own controversy, explaining, “I remember laying in bed and literally crying and just saying like ‘I have no idea how I did this to myself. I made my bed and now I have to lay in it.’ I just didn’t know how to engage, how to apologize.”
“I know you did it on a macro level, but did you apologize to people that loved you and backed you?” Rodriguez then aske Lochte. “And also, those fans out there that ultimately are the shareholders of our careers.”
Following an investigation by Rio police, all of the charges against Lochte were dropped.
The Olympian later apologized for his actions in a statement released on Instagram, writing in-part, “I want to apologize for my behavior last weekend — for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics.”
Back in the Game airs Wednesday at 10 pm ET, on CNBC
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