Wales rugby legend Gareth Thomas has opened up about his husband's heart-warming reaction to his HIV diagnosis.
In his first at-home interview since making the announcement public, the sportsman described the help and strength his husband Stephen William-Thomas has given to him after a tabloid newspaper threatened to publish his diagnosis.
Gareth, 45, was met with national praise after announcing he is HIV positive the day before completing the gruelling Ironman Wales in Tenby on September 15.
But, speaking to Okay! magazine from his three-bedroom Welsh farmhouse, the international icon says he had tried to hide his feelings to protect his family and friends.
The former Welsh rugby captain said: "I’d try to hide how was I feeling because I didn’t want it to impact on my family and friends. But it becomes impossible when you start having panic attacks and you want to cry constantly. I have learned a lot about vulnerability and inner strength from Stephen.”
His husband Stephen, 56, added: "Seeing Gareth at his darkest points, when people were threatening him, was heartbreaking. I never, ever want to see Gareth in that position again. I was trying to support him and hold him, but it was the most horrible time. I just thought how can somebody put him in this position? It was just horrendous."
Asked if he would have been able to get through everything without Stephen’s support, Gareth responded: "Absolutely no way. He has been a beacon of light for me.
"When I was feeling really low, I always had Stephen to go home to, to talk to, to make me laugh and be there if I wanted to cry and not judge me. He was there at a time when I really needed him.
"We always say to each other: ‘We love each other, regardless. We’re together, forever, regardless.’ Stephen was the only reason I got through the dark times."
In a BBC documentary aired last week, Gareth, known widely as Alfie, revealed how he had to fight a lengthy legal battle to prevent the news he had HIV from being made public by a tabloid newspaper.
By deciding to make the announcement himself, 10 years after coming out as the first openly gay rugby player, he now hopes to break the stigma around HIV.
He said: "I think because it’s shrouded by the ‘shame’ of sex. As British people, we don’t really talk about sex. Even though it’s something that on this planet, everybody has done, is doing or will do, we still hold it as something that is shameful for us to discuss.
"No conversation is difficult with Stephen. He doesn’t judge people. When I told Stephen, he didn’t know anything about HIV.
"But he trusted me and the conversation was very simple to have. I just want to make sure that he knew and understood everything about it fully."
Stephen, who works as a teacher, added: “I was one of the ignorant ones to be honest with you. Even as Gareth was working on the documentary, I was learning things too. The stigma is changing I think.
"My parents are 82 and 83, and I had to explain to them over and over, Gareth takes medication, he’s 100 per cent fit, he’ll outlive us all. It’s the older generation."
Read the full interview and see the stunning photo shoot with Gareth Thomas and his husband Stephen in this week’s OK! magazine - Out nationwide on Tuesday.
