Scott Hamilton Doesn’t Regret Giving Away Most of His Stuff — but Kept This One Thing (Exclusive)

In 2023, ice skating legend Scott Hamilton made headlines when he had an estate sale to get rid of the majority of his possessions.

At the time, he told PEOPLE he assumed it was big news because it was a curious thing to do. “I think they wanted to know if I was going bankrupt!,” he said. “And then all these other people in the skating community reached out because they thought maybe I was sick again.”

The reality was, he just wanted to downsize. Now the skater and cancer survivor, who is about to host his annual Scott Hamilton and Friends ice show to raise money for his CURES foundation, says he had no need to cling to so much stuff.

“I can’t really think of anything I got rid of that I miss,” he says now. “The one thing though is that all of these things you get rid of represent a moment in time. But there’s no future in the past, so I kind of go, it’s ok, I can let that stuff go.”

However, there was one thing he had to hold on to.

“The G.I. Joe space capsule that I got for my eighth birthday, because it reminds me of my parents,” he says. “But I don’t have any of my medals or winnings or anything like that in the house. I’ve given it all to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.”

He adds, “I don’t know, it just feels good to lighten the load and to understand that things are things, and none of those define us or really end up making us happy.”

The dad of four, who has been married to wife Tracie since 2002, also notes that less stuff means more room for visitors. His son Maxx, 16, is a theologist, and Hamilton says they often host friends from the ministry.

“Just last Friday, we had about a hundred Next Gen Christian leaders in the house, and we got Mexican food and ate together and laughed,” he says.

“it was so much fun just to see and to be around all of that youth, and their passion and their desire and their faith. It was just so contagious. That kind of energy keeps us young.”

Hamilton has told PEOPLE that he’s relied on his own faith over the years, especially as a cancer survivor. He says now that being able to give back to cancer research in such a big way through his foundation has truly made him embrace his spiritual side.

“I went from being a fundraiser to an activist, which was incredible,” he says. “And that just makes me kind of dig deeper into my faith because it almost feels like it’s orchestrated.”