Gareth Thomas: this much I know

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/nov/25/gareth-thomas-this-much-i-know

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Rugby is like a sleeping giant that's starting to wake up and players are becoming public figures. But at the heart of it, they are good, honest people. Their mentality is hard work. They don't give up.

The sport has changed so much since I started. Twenty years ago we used to drink 20 pints a night – a famous player wouldn't do that now.

My fear of coming out wasn't about rejection. I was scared people would say: "Why were you lying to me? If you've been lying about that what else are you lying about?" Lying is my biggest regret.

My sport was my comfort. The routine, the camaraderie, the team… everyone's around you. After rugby you're on your own. Every day was the same, but now it's different and that's really scary. I had to change my mindset, stop fearing what I didn't know.

People say getting fit is 90% diet and 10% exercise, but that's bollocks. If you train hard you earn the right to a chocolate bar.

In school I was really chopsy. If someone wanted a dare done it would be, "Dare Gareth, he'll do it." But I'd always get caught.

Mickey Rourke can almost finish my sentences. He understands where I have been because he has been there, too. There's a lot people don't know about him and it's the same with me. That's why he's the right person to play me [filming on a biopic of Thomas's life starts in April].

Other sportsmen have confided in me that they're gay. The advice I give is that coming out is great for you as a person, but that you also have to remember you're a role model. As a sportsman you take the money and the glory, but you also take the responsibility that comes with it and make sure the stories that follow are positive.

Neither my ex-wife nor I regret getting married. There was so much good in the seven years we spent together. The regret for me is the hurt I caused not just her but my parents, too.

I'm glad I didn't have therapy. I think I answered a lot of the questions like "Who am I? Who do I want to be?" by myself.

I like average. I wouldn't want to be with somebody who looks brilliant all the time, unless their job demanded it.

Family should be the one constant you can rely on to make you happy. When I drive home and pull up, there's no feeling like it. My mother is Mrs Doubtfire, baking away, my father sitting in the same chair. Nothing changes.

Am I British? No way. I'm as Welsh as you can get.

Gareth Thomas – The REAL Celebrity Fitness DVD is on sale now from gareththomasfitness.co.uk and selected Tesco stores. Part of the profits from sale will go to the Life Music Foundation (lifemusicfoundation.org)