Gareth Thomas (born 25 July 1974), nicknamed "Alfie", is a Welsh former professional

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 it ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

player, who represented Wales in both sports. With 100 test match appearances he was the most capped Welsh rugby union player until he was overtaken by Stephen Jones in September 2011. He is currently ranked 14th among international try scorers, and is the third highest Wales try scorer behind

Shane Williams Shane Mark Williams, (born 26 February 1977) is a Welsh rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion. Williams is the record tr ...

George North George Philip North (born 13 April 1992) is a Welsh professional rugby union player who plays for the Ospreys in the United Rugby Championship and the Wales national team. He has also represented the British & Irish Lions and currently has th ...

. He also won four rugby league caps for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, scoring three tries. He played rugby union as a fullback,

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

for

Bridgend Bridgend (; cy, Pen-y-bont ar Ogwr or just , meaning "the end of the bridge on the Ogmore") is a town in Bridgend County Borough in Wales, west of Cardiff and east of Swansea. The town is named after the medieval bridge over the River Og ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, the Celtic Warriors,

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

, Cardiff Blues, and

. In 2010 he changed codes to rugby league when he transferred from Cardiff Blues to the

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...

in Super League, and later played for Wales. He retired from rugby in October 2011. Thomas

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

in December 2009. The following year he was voted the most influential gay person in the UK in ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was published ...

Pink List The Rainbow List (called the Pink List until 2014) is a list of the most influential openly LGBT individuals in the United Kingdom, published annually in the British national newspaper ''The Independent on Sunday''. The list was started in 2000 ...

and received Stonewall’s Hero of the Year award.

Rugby union

Club career

Thomas started his career at Pencoed RFC at youth level before starting his first class career at

. He then transferred to

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

, but never actually played a game for them before re-signing for Bridgend. He then spent a spell at

starting in 1997 before rejoining hometown club Bridgend again in 2001 and captaining them to a

Welsh Premier Division The Welsh Premier Division, () known for sponsorship reasons as the Indigo Group Premiership, (''Uwch Gynghrair grŵp indigo'') is a rugby union league in Wales first implemented by the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) for the 1990–91 season. Compet ...

title in 2003, in a campaign where they were unbeaten at home and only lost to runners-up Neath and

away. He then joined the Celtic Warriors once the Welsh Rugby Union implemented its regional rugby plans for the 2003–04 season. After one season as captain of the Warriors, the region was disbanded by the then-WRU chief

David Moffett David Moffett (born 17 April 1947) is a businessman who has been the head of Sport England, New Zealand Rugby, Australia's National Rugby League, and the Welsh Rugby Union. Moffett has been involved in New Zealand politics, serving briefly on ...

, and owner Leighton Samuel, although Thomas had already agreed a deal to join French club

where he was seen as the ideal replacement for soon-to-retire captain

Émile Ntamack Émile "Milou" Ntamack (born 25 June 1970) is a French former rugby union footballer. He played professionally for Stade Toulousain and France, winning 46 caps. Ntamack made his French debut against Wales during the 1994 Five Nations Championshi ...

. He helped the club to a Heineken Cup victory in 2005 after a victory over Stade Français at

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

. On 20 January 2007, Cardiff Blues completed a deal to bring Thomas back to Wales for the 2007–08 season. Thomas didn’t actually play much more than a game or two of rugby union after his announcement, shifting immediately to rugby league (a sport generally regarded as more inclusive).

International career

Gareth Thomas made his début for Wales on 27 May 1995 against .Profile
on ''

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds managed by Apollo Global Manage ...

Sport'' He scored a Welsh record-equalling four tries in the match against in

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and '' comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Ven ...

in 1999; one of only seven players to achieve that feat for Wales. He held the Wales record for the most international tries with 40 until

surpassed that total in the

2008 Six Nations Championship The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship, the 114th series of the international championship. Fifteen ...

He surpassed the try record previously held by

Ieuan Evans Ieuan Cennydd Evans (born 21 March 1964) is a former rugby union player who played on the wing for Wales and the British and Irish Lions. He is the fourth highest try scorer for Wales behind Shane Williams, George North and Gareth Thomas an ...

in 2004 against Italy. He also got a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

of tries in the Second Test against Japan in 2001; 51 appearances after announcing his arrival on the international scene with a hat-trick in the 1995 World Cup game against the same opposition. Equally at home at centre, it was from that position he scored the longest interception try ever seen at the Arms Park, a 90-metre dash against in 1996. Thomas was selected for the

2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand In 2005, the British & Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing seven matches against first and second division teams from the National Provincial Championship, one match against the New Zealand Ma ...

. Following injury to

Brian O'Driscoll Brian Gerard O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish former professional rugby union player. He played at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster and for Ireland. He captained Ireland from 2003 until 2012, and captained the ...

in the opening minutes of the first test against , he was made captain for the second and third tests of the series, becoming the ninth Welsh captain in Lions' history. In 2005 Thomas was found guilty of assault while playing rugby in France and in 2007 was banned for four weeks for misconduct charges. Thomas was named as captain for Wales' final match in the

2007 Six Nations The 2007 Six Nations Championship was the eighth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 113th series of the international championship. Fifteen mat ...

against England after current captain Stephen Jones was ruled out with a broken wrist. When Thomas took the field, he equalled

Gareth Llewellyn Gareth Owen Llewellyn (born 27 February 1969), is a Welsh former rugby union player who gained a record 92 caps for Wales as a lock. His record for Wales caps was surpassed by Gareth Thomas in May 2007. His brother, Glyn Llewellyn, also played i ...

's Wales record of 92 caps. He broke Llewellyn's record when he led Wales out against Australia at

Telstra Stadium Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Sydney Olympic Park, in Sydney, Australia. The stadium, which in Australia is sometimes referred to as Sydney Olympic Stad ...

in Sydney on 26 May 2007, a match that Wales lost 29–23 on a Wallabies try after the siren. His 100th, and last test match was in his team's defeat by Fiji in the 2007 World Cup.

Rugby league

Thomas joined

in March 2010 on an 18-month deal. He made his Crusaders' (and rugby league) début against French side

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from outs ...

on 19 March 2010. Thomas was concussed seconds into his rugby league début after a heavy challenge from Catalans player

David Ferriol David Ferriol (born 24 April 1979) is a French former professional rugby league footballer. He previously played for the Catalans Dragons club in the Super League. Background Ferriol was born in Carcassonne, France. Career A powerful, ball-car ...

, and as a result had to leave the field after thirty minutes. Crusaders went on to win the game 14–6. Thomas went on to score his first try for the Crusaders against

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

in a 20–10 away victory on 11 April. A groin injury prematurely ended Thomas' first season in rugby league, but his recovery was hoped to be complete in time for the

2010 European Cup The 2010 European Cup, known as the Alitalia European Cup for sponsorship purposes, is a rugby league football tournament. Three of the competing teams participated in the 2009 European Cup, with France also being included in the tournament after ...

, for which Thomas was selected in the Welsh preliminary squad. In a warm-up test before the European Cup, he made a try-scoring international rugby league début in

13–6 defeat by

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

in October 2010. He scored again in his next international vs Scotland. In the final game of the tournament, Thomas was appointed captain, filling in for the injured

Lee Briers Lee Paul Briers (born 14 June 1978) is a professional rugby league coach who is on the coaching staff of the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL, and a former Wales international rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. A Gr ...

. He scored a try in that game, helping Wales to a one-point win for both the European Cup Trophy and a spot in the

2011 Rugby League Four Nations The 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (also known as the 2011 Gillette Rugby League Four Nations due to sponsorship by Gillette) was the third staging of the Rugby League Four Nations tournament and was played in England and Wales during O ...

. On 9 July 2011, Thomas confirmed on Twitter that he had broken his left arm during the 38–10 defeat by

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

, and expected to be sidelined for two months. After missing the rest of the season and failing to reach 100% fitness before the

tournament, on 25 October 2011 Thomas announced his immediate retirement.

Personal life

Thomas was born in Sarn near

in July 1974. He married Jemma Thomas, whom he met when both were teenagers, in 2001. The couple married in St Brides Major, near Bridgend, and filed for divorce in 2007; it was finalised in 2009. During the marriage, Jemma suffered three miscarriages. In December 2009 Thomas announced publicly that he is

. He told the '' Daily Mail'', "I don't want to be known as a gay rugby player. I am a rugby player, first and foremost. I am a man". Thomas's public confirmation of his sexuality made him the first openly gay professional rugby union player. In an interview with the BBC, Thomas talked about how he hoped that his coming out would mean that in the future, a young gay rugby player would be able to come out and be accepted as a "talented gay rugby player". Thomas also said, "What I choose to do when I close the door at home has nothing to do with what I have achieved in rugby". Since coming out, Thomas has become a vocal supporter of the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity. History Victorian era On a trip to New York in 1881, Liverpudlian businessman Thomas Agnew was inspired by a visit to the New Yor ...

and ChildLine, a telephone counselling service operated by the NSPCC for children and young people. In an interview, Thomas commented, "I don't know if my life is going to be easier because I'm out, but if it helps someone else, if it makes one young lad pick up the phone to ChildLine, then it will have been worth it". He suffered a major health scare in February 2006. He had received a blow to his neck during a match; then later on while watching a televised recording of an interview he had given regarding his part in the resignation of Welsh coach

Mike Ruddock Mike Ruddock, OBE (born 5 September 1959) is a Welsh rugby union coach who is currently an interim consultant for Ospreys, having previously coached Lansdowne FC . Ruddock was the Director of Rugby at the Worcester Warriors until his resignatio ...

, he fell ill and was rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke, which was brought on by a ruptured artery in his neck. It was feared that this could lead to his retirement, but he resumed playing at the start of the 2006–07 French rugby season. His way of celebrating tries by slapping his head comes from a popular celebration among Cardiff City supporters known as " the Ayatollah". His autobiography ''Proud'', co-written with Michael Calvin, won Sports Book of the Year in 2015. On 17 November 2018, Thomas was assaulted in Cardiff because of his sexuality. He requested that

South Wales Police South Wales Police ( cy, Heddlu De Cymru) is one of the four territorial police forces in Wales. It is headquartered in Bridgend. The force was formed as South Wales Constabulary on 1 June 1969, by the amalgamation of the former Glamorgan Cons ...

deal with the 16-year-old assailant by way of restorative justice. On 14 September 2019, Thomas announced that he is

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

positive, with undetectable status, meaning that he is not infectious. On the following day he competed in the Ironman Wales event in

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

, finishing 413th out of 2,039, having vowed to "break the stigma" around the illness. After feeling media pressure to do so and for National HIV Testing Week, Thomas also filmed a documentary with

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

and the

Terrence Higgins Trust Terrence Higgins Trust is a British charity that campaigns about and provides services relating to HIV and sexual health. In particular, the charity aims to end the transmission of HIV in the UK; to support and empower people living with HIV, to ...

, which aired a few days later on 18 September. Publicising the documentary that morning, he told an interviewer for BBC Radio 5 Live that a journalist had revealed his HIV status to his parents before he had had the opportunity to do so himself. While Thomas declined to name the journalist or the paper they write for, he did say "everybody will know, especially of late", leading the ''

Press Gazette ''Press Gazette'', formerly known as ''UK Press Gazette'' (UKPG), is a British media trade magazine dedicated to journalism and the press. First published in 1965, it had a circulation of about 2,500, before becoming online-only in 2013. Publis ...

'' to suggest it could be '' The Sun'', given they had been criticised the previous day for reporting about the family of England cricketer Ben Stokes. A BBC documentary, ''Gareth Thomas: HIV and Me'', aired in September 2019. Thomas was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to sport and health. Thomas has been accused of "deceptively" transmitting HIV to a previous partner, according to High Court legal papers.

Film

In November 2011, actor

Mickey Rourke Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke Jr. (; born September 16, 1952) is an American actor and former boxer who has appeared primarily as a leading man in drama, action, and thriller films. During the star of the 1980s, Rourke played supporting roles i ...

said that he was planning to portray Thomas in a movie of his life; the film was due to start filming in February 2013. Thomas was later reported to be working with a writer on the script of the biopic. In March 2012, on the RTÉ programme '' Craig Doyle Live'', Thomas announced that Tom Hardy was in talks to play him in the film. Rourke announced that he had given back the part to the producers. The film project later fell through, but Thomas said in 2015 that he was working on a new film with a different writer.

Media career

Thomas was an analyst for

ITV Sport ITV Sport is a sport producer for ITV. It was formed following the merger between Granada Sport and Central Sport.Rugby World Cup The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...

tournaments in 2011, 2015 and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. In January 2012, Thomas was a housemate in the ninth series of ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...

'', and finished third overall on the final night. The same year, Thomas made a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

as himself in an episode of the

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

comedy drama '' Stella''. Thomas is also one of 8 celebrities chosen to participate in an intense week learning Welsh in an eco-friendly chic campsite in Pembrokeshire in the series '' cariad@iaith:love4language'' shown on S4C in May 2012. In November 2012, he hinted to an audience of 300 people that he may be appearing in an ice dancing show and in December 2012, he was formally announced as one of the contestants, due to take part in the eighth series of ITV's '' Dancing on Ice'' in January 2013. His partner was Robin Johnstone. He was at or near the top of the leader board every week. In week 9, he suffered nausea and motion sickness whilst practising his "flying" routine, and was advised not to perform it and afterwards was advised to drop out of the series because of this. On 18 January 2015, Thomas took part in celebrity talent show '' Get Your Act Together''. He features in the Pinc List of leading Welsh LGBT figures. In 2017, Thomas participated in the fourth series of '' The Jump''. He withdrew on 7 March 2017, and

Lydia Bright Lydia-Rose Bright is an English television personality. She is best known for starring in the ITVBe reality television series ''The Only Way Is Essex''. In 2016, she took part in '' Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls''. In February and March 2017 ...

replaced him for the final.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Wales Rugby Union profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Cardiff Blues profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Official webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Gareth 1974 births Living people Barbarian F.C. players Bridgend RFC players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Cardiff RFC players Cardiff Rugby players Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Crusaders Rugby League players Dual-code rugby internationals Expatriate rugby union players in France Gay sportsmen LGBT rugby league players LGBT rugby union players People with HIV/AIDS Pontypridd RFC players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Bridgend County Borough Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers Rugby union centres Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Bridgend County Borough Rugby union wings Stade Toulousain players Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team captains Wales national rugby league team players Wales rugby union captains Welsh expatriate rugby union players Welsh expatriate sportspeople in France Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players LGBT sportspeople from Wales 21st-century LGBT people