Rugby champ reveals a journalist told his parents about his HIV status.
Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas has criticised the journalist who revealed his HIV diagnosis to his parents before he had told them, in an emotional interview on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning.
Speaking to Nicky Campbell on 5 Live Breakfast the former Welsh captain shares his anger that he was not able to break the news to them himself.
“They love me, they love me whatever,” he says. “But you know I can never have that moment back to sit down with them and be able to explain to them why their son is going to be OK and is going to be able to live through this and live a normal, healthy life.
“Because that person came and took that moment away from me. My parents will say that they’re fine because that’s my parents. But I can’t really tell you how they felt because I can’ t imagine how they felt.”
He says that he resents the intrusion into his personal life, and regrets not being able to reassure them about his diagnosis:
“Can you imagine somebody coming to your door, can you imagine someone coming to your door and saying something so personal and so intrusive to you about the thing and the person that you would love and protect through anything? Can you imagine how that would feel? I can’t, I can’t so I can’t really tell you.
“But what I can tell you is that I’ve got the best parents on the planet because to this day they stand by me and they believe in me and they believe in what I’m doing now.”
Gareth was speaking ahead of a documentary Gareth Thomas: HIV and Me on BBC One tonight.
Listen to Nicky Campbell’s full interview with Gareth Thomas on today’s BBC Radio 5 Live Breakfast on BBC Sounds:
"I can never have that moment back."
A journalist told @gareththomas14 ‘s parents about his HIV status before he had. This is what it means to him.
? Listen via @BBCSounds pic.twitter.com/HIWZKHwAmJ
— BBC Radio 5 Live (@bbc5live) September 18, 2019