Nigel Owens Makes Heartbreaking Revelation
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Nigel Owens has revealed that he once went to a doctor and asked if he could be chemically castrated after realising he was gay.
The former World Rugby Referee of the Year said the pressure of officiating the 2015 Rugby World Cup final was nothing compared to accepting his homosexuality.
The Welsh official suffered from bulimia and attempted suicide because being gay felt “totally alien” to him. Owens, the first openly gay man to officiate at the highest level of the game, revealed his sexuality in 2007.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, he said:
“Refereeing that World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand in front of 85,000 people and the millions of people watching at home, scrutinising every single decision you make under a huge amount of pressure, was nothing compared to the challenge of accepting who I was.”
He described how he went to a doctor and said: “l do not want to be gay. Can I get chemically castrated?”
Owen said he has received huge support from the Welsh Rugby Union and feels he has been given a “second chance”.
He went on to say: “Unless you are happy with who you are, you cannot excel and be the best you can be at whatever you are doing. You cannot enjoy life if you are not happy within yourself.”
