Appearing Saturday on ITV's The
Jonathan Ross Show, former Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas said
he's found true love with boyfriend Ian Baum.
Thomas publicly
acknowledged he's gay in 2009 and retired from professional rugby in
2011.
The 40-year-old
Welshman is currently promoting his memoir, Proud,
which is published by Ebury Press.
Thomas and Baum met
online and are currently living together.
When Ross asked
Thomas about wedding plans, Thomas said that he was open to the
possibility.
“We've known each
other for two years and we've been living together for a year and I
am very much in love with Ian, I'm extremely happy and I'm sure one
day down the line,” Gareth said. “We're settling in but
definitely I wouldn't write it off, because I really feel I've found
my soulmate and the person I can spend the rest of my life with, I
really do.”
Gareth also talked
about his decision to come out and the effect it has had on others
struggling with their sexuality.
“I didn't come
out because I wanted to be the first person to do it and I was going
to be a trailblazer, I came out because I came to a crossroads of
living or dying. … I wanted to live,” Thomas
said.
Thomas said that he
gets thanked regularly by strangers for having the courage to come
out.
“I have won every
trophy that I can ever dream of winning. But when you affect
somebody's life, in a way that this person is going to have a life
that they never thought they could have because of me, stupid old me,
because of that they could do that, it's amazing,” he said.