The first ever professional rugby player to come out, Gareth Thomas, stars in a new ad for Guinness which shows the support he received from his team mates as he struggled to accept who he is.
|
“Every impact, every rib cracked, every bone broken – that was nothing compared to the demons that were tearing me apart,” the Welsh legend says in the video.
“In my darkest hour, I turned to my team mates, telling them I was gay – that was the toughest thing I’d ever done.”
The ad’s message is ‘never alone’ – with Thomas saying “when I needed them the most, they were there for me”.
Thomas came out publicly in 2009, after years of struggling to hide his sexuality from his family and team-mates. He captained the Welsh rugby team, and went on to represent his nation in rugby league after a code switch.
A longer version, ‘Gareth’s Story’, delves even deeper:
