RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazilian striker Ronaldo has admitted to being ashamed after a bizarre run-in with a trio of transvestites in Rio de Janeiro last week.

"I've done something really stupid in my personal life," the AC Milan player said in an interview with Globo television on Sunday.

"We are all subject to making mistakes and I made a mistake in looking for this. I did not at any moment know they were transvestites," the 31-year-old added in his first public appearance since the incident last Monday.

Police said Ronaldo, who is recovering from a knee injury, went to a motel in Rio de Janeiro's upmarket Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood with three call girls only to find out they were transvestites.

(Reporting by Brian Homewood; Editing by Alastair Himmer)