James Andrew Welbon Haskell (born 2 April 1985) is an English former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player who played for

Wasps RFC Wasps Rugby Football Club is a professional rugby union team. They last played in Premiership Rugby, the top division of English rugby until being suspended on 12 October 2022. On 17 October 2022 the club entered administration, resulting in r ...

and

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. They were formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. James", ...

in the Aviva Premiership, and internationally for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. In August 2019 he announced he would become a professional mixed martial artist and is currently signed to

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

, where he is to compete in their

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...

division. In November 2019, it was announced that Haskell would be participating in the nineteenth series of '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!''.

Early life

James Andrew Welbon Haskell was born on 2 April 1985 in

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

He was educated at Papplewick School in Ascot, Berkshire and

Wellington College Wellington College may refer to: *Wellington College, Berkshire, an independent school in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England ** Wellington College International Shanghai ** Wellington College International Tianjin * Wellington College, Wellington, Ne ...

Crowthorne Crowthorne is a large village and civil parish in the Bracknell Forest district of south-eastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 6,711 at the 2001 census, which rose to 6,902 at the 2011 census. A 2020 estimate put it at 7,808. Cr ...

, also in Berkshire.

Club career

Haskell played for Maidenhead Rugby Club prior to joining (Wasps RFC), where he was part of the highly successful Colts set up. He was a replacement as Wasps won the 2007 Heineken Cup Final. The following season he started as Wasps won the 2007–08 Premiership Final. It was announced on 17 February 2009 that Haskell would join Top 14 side Stade Francais at the end of the 2008–09 season. Haskell played as a loose forward. He announced at the end of the 2010–11 season that he had been released from his contract at Stade Francais, and would instead be rejoining

Wasps A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. ...

at the start of the 2012–13 season. During the season after the World Cup, he would play in Japan for the Rams, before seeking a Super Rugby contract for the rest of the season. In 2011, Haskell agreed to join the Highlanders in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

, saying he has always wanted to play in new environments and to "improve and become a better player for England". While there, Haskell was competing for the Flanker position with future Scotland international, John Hardie. In January 2018 it was announced he would leave Wasps at the end of the 2017–18 Aviva Premiership season. On 7 May 2019 Haskell announced his retirement from professional rugby via an Instagram post.

International career

England

Haskell represented England at under-17, 18 and under-19 levels as well as playing for

England Sevens The England national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. England's best finish in the Sevens Series is second place, which they have achieved four times, most recently i ...

. He also played for Wales at under-18 level, qualifying thanks to his Welsh mother, and is also qualified to play for Ireland. In the 2007 Six Nations, Haskell was called into the starting line-up for the final game of the tournament for

against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

in Cardiff, where he was part of a back row that was for the first time provided by one club -

Joe Worsley Joseph Paul Richard Worsley, (born 14 June 1977) is a retired English rugby union player who played flanker for Wasps and England. Biography Worsley was born in London and educated at Hitchin Boys' School and Brunel University. He joined ...

and Tom Rees were the other players from Wasps. He just missed out on selection for the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 2 ...

for England, despite spending the summer in their training camp. He played a prominent role in the England team in the 2008 Six Nations. Haskell appeared in both tests of the 2008 summer tour of New Zealand. Haskell was selected by Martin Johnson for the 2008/2009 Elite Player Squad on 1 July 2008. He appeared in all three autumn internationals, starting against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. Haskell participated in every game of the

2009 Six Nations The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national ...

, though he lost his starting berth to

Tom Croft Tom Croft (born 7 November 1985) is a retired rugby union player. He played 173 games for Leicester Tigers between 2005–17 winning four Premiership Rugby titles, played 40 times for between 2008–2015, was part of the squad for the ...

. Haskell's performances for Stade and injury to

meant he returned to the England squad, and he scored two tries against Wales in the first match of the 2010 Six Nations. He started all subsequent games. During a rest week in the Six Nations, Stade requested his return to Paris to face Toulouse that weekend. The RFU held firm, however, and he remained in England. Haskell was a member of Stuart Lancaster's 31-man squad for the

2015 Rugby World Cup The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...

, however, he was left on the bench in favour of Tom Wood as England crashed out in the group stages. Haskell was named as the 'man of the series' during England's 3–0 series victory over Australia in June 2016.

British & Irish Lions

On 21 May 2017, Haskell was called up to the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

due to an injury to

Billy Vunipola Billy Vunipola (born 3 November 1992) is a professional rugby union player who plays at Number 8 for Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership and for the England national team. Born in Australia to Tongan parents, he qualified for England throu ...

MMA career

In August 2019, Haskell signed to mixed martial arts promotion

as part of its

division. Haskell had previously done analysis and commentary work for English promotions such as BAMMA and CFF. In February 2020, it was announced that Haskell would make his professional mixed martial arts debut on 16 May 2020 at Wembley's SSE Arena. The event was ultimately postponed due to the Coronavirus outbreak. After having numerous injuries still stemming from his rugby career and eventually having spinal surgery in September 2021, Haskell decided to forgo his MMA career.

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

In November 2019, it was announced that Haskell would be participating in the nineteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. He ultimately became the fourth person to be voted off.

Personal life

Haskell is married to television presenter

Chloe Madeley Chloe Susannah Madeley (born 13 July 1987) is an English personal trainer and reality television personality. She is the daughter of Richard and Judy. Early life and education Madeley was born in Manchester. She was educated at King Alfred Sc ...

; the couple started dating in 2014. Haskell announced on Good Morning Britain in February 2022 that he and his wife Chloe are expecting a baby girl. Haskell was suspended from Wellington College for producing a non-consensual film showing his friend Paul Doran-Jones having sex with his then girlfriend in school accommodation using a hidden camera. They then showed classmates the film. Doran-Jones was expelled and Haskell suspended for the incident. Haskell later made light of the incident in a YouTube podcast in 2019 joking, 'All I am going to say is this. My idea, Paul was execution' and 'I was nothing to do with it apart from, obviously, it was my idea'. In 2011, Haskell was accused of sexually harassing a hotel worker alongside fellow England Players

Dylan Hartley Dylan Hartley (born 24 March 1986) is a former England Rugby captain who represented England and Northampton Saints. Hartley was the captain of England from January 2016 until the end of his international career in 2019. He is England's most ca ...

and

Chris Ashton Christopher John Ashton (born 29 March 1987) is an English rugby union and former rugby league player, and one of the few players who have represented England in both rugby codes. A wing or fullback, he joined Leicester Tigers of Premiersh ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haskell, James 1985 births Living people England international rugby union players English rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in France Wasps RFC players People educated at Wellington College, Berkshire Rugby union flankers Stade Français players English expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Japan Expatriate rugby union players in New Zealand English expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand English expatriate sportspeople in France English expatriate sportspeople in Japan I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants People educated at Papplewick School Black Rams Tokyo players Highlanders (rugby union) players Rugby union players from Windsor, Berkshire British & Irish Lions rugby union players from England Northampton Saints players Madeley family