Dealing with being gay made me ill, says referee

The Rugby World Cup Final referee Nigel Owens has said that coming to terms with his homosexuality led to years of bulimia, depression and steroid addiction.

Mr Owens, who in 2007 was one of the first professional sportsmen to come out as gay, has told how his life had been “going downhill very fast”, culminating in a suicide attempt at the age of 26. The referee, 44, who grew up in Mynydd Cerrig, south Wales, told the BBC: “I remember doing something for the first time with another guy and I felt... physically sick and ashamed afterwards.”