In his upcoming memoir, Proud,
former Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas discusses the pain he felt when
his wife left him after he revealed to her that he's gay.
Proud is published by Ebury
Press and ghost written by sportswriter Michael Calvin.
Thomas, who retired from rugby in 2011,
publicly acknowledged he is gay in 2009. The 40-year-old Welshman's
coming out inspired other professional athletes to come out,
including English
cricketer Steven Michael Davies and Swedish footballer (European
soccer) Anton
Hysen.
Ebury
Press called the memoir “an incredible story of one man facing
up to the truth with no idea of the impact it will have on his life.”
In 2006, Thomas confessed to his wife
of 5 years, Jemma, that he's gay.
The night she left him, Thomas writes
in the book, he attempted to drown himself in his swimming pool.
“I missed her so badly, and hated
myself for what I had inflected on her,” he
wrote.
Thomas is currently in a relationship
with boyfriend Ian Baum and his former wife has remarried.