Gavin Henson was one of the most talented rugby players of his generation, but he was just as famous for his high-profile relationship with singer Charlotte Church.
John Jones and Tasha Hall Showbiz and Trends Reporter
22:55, 07 Oct 2025
The high-profile couple were together for five years(Image: Getty)
Few rugby players have made an impact quite like Gavin Henson, the former Wales international who drew comparisons to David Beckham for his on-pitch talent and off-pitch lifestyle.
The flamboyant back was one of the most naturally gifted players of his generation, captivating audiences as he shone on the international stage and for his numerous clubs, often single-handedly turning games around.
In addition to earning 33 caps for Wales and touring with the British and Irish Lions in 2005, Henson played for three of the four Welsh regions, the Ospreys, Dragons and Cardiff , and also had stints in England with Saracens, Bath, Bristol and London Welsh, as well as in France with Toulon.
He enjoyed success with Wales, being part of two Grand Slam campaigns in 2005 and 2008, and also won two domestic titles and the Anglo-Welsh Cup with the Ospreys. However, his off-pitch antics often grabbed as many headlines as his on-pitch successes, sometimes for the wrong reasons.
Most notably, Henson’s relationship with singer Charlotte Church, who is one of 19 celebrities participating in the BBC’s new series of Celebrity Traitors, dominated newspaper headlines throughout much of the 2000s, as they became one of the most high-profile couples in British sport, reports the Mirror.
The couple faced intense media attention throughout their romance
He would later appear on reality TV programmes including Strictly Come Dancing, but life looks vastly different now for the former rugby ace, who has reached the age of 43. From his high-profile relationship with Church to operating his own boozer, here’s everything you need to know about Henson’s existence beyond the rugby field.
Romance with Charlotte Church
Henson and Church, who shot to stardom as a classical vocalist before switching to pop music, created a media storm when they were initially spotted together publicly in April 2005, just after she ended things with her former partner Kyle Johnson.
Speaking on her BBC podcast, Kicking Back With the Cardiffians, Church revealed she actively pursued the rugby player after seeing him perform on television, saying: “I remember watching on this television, Wales vs England, when Gavin kicked the kick over.
“Then that night – I didn’t know Gav before that – I was like, I’m going to go out and find him in town. He is nice. Actually I was going round asking everybody, ‘Do you know Gavin Henson? Where will he go out drinking afterwards?’ Nobody knew – but I did find him.”
The Welsh celebrity duo began cohabiting the following year, whilst in March 2007, Church announced she was expecting the pair’s first baby. They welcomed daughter Ruby later that year, followed by their second child, son Dexter, who arrived in January 2009.
The pair appeared to be flourishing, with Henson getting down on one knee for Church’s 24th birthday in February 2010, the very month she secured a major television role on BBC talent show Over The Rainbow. Yet everything crumbled merely six weeks afterwards, as the duo confirmed their separation following five years as a couple.
Henson is now the landlord of The Fox pub(Image: Mark Lewis)
It was subsequently revealed that the choice was mutual, with Church stating: “When he proposed, I was overjoyed. It was amazing. I really was going to marry Gav and spend the rest of my life with him. But then he came back from Norway, and he’d changed, and I’d had time to think. We had both had a change of heart – so we were both of the same mind.”
Church subsequently condemned the “insane” press harassment she endured before and throughout her romance with Henson, also alleging that journalists hacked her mobile phone at the News of The World, for which she eventually received an apology and considerable compensation.
“The press intrusion was insane, there was all sorts of dark stuff going on,” she said. “There were stories in the papers all the time and lots of things were blown up, misconstrued and made seedy – when they really weren’t.
“There was a lot of shame being thrown at me, with the press desperately trying to make me a figure of sin and push this ‘fallen angel’ narrative. If I had let that shame in, or internalised it, my life could have gone in a very different way.”
Today, Henson and Church maintain a strong relationship whilst co-parenting Dexter, and both have discovered love once more.
Whilst the former rugby icon wed long-term partner Katie Wilson Mould in 2019, Church exchanged vows with musician Jonathan Powell in 2017, having sought Henson’s blessing before they began their romance.
Past controversies
Beyond his relationship with Church, Henson repeatedly found himself thrust into the spotlight for the wrong reasons, occasionally landing in hot water with both the authorities and his clubs.
In 2007, he alongside three other individuals faced charges of disorderly conduct following drunken antics on a train journey between London and Cardiff, though the case was subsequently dropped due to lack of evidence.
In 2009, he received a police caution regarding his conduct during a night out in Cardiff after Wales’ Six Nations triumph over England.
Henson also found himself in serious trouble when drinking sessions spiralled out of control, resulting in Cardiff axing him after merely eight appearances following his “inexcusable” and “inappropriate” intoxicated behaviour aboard a flight returning from Glasgow in March 2012.
Twelve months later, an alcohol-fuelled remark he directed at new Bath teammate Carl Fearns resulted in the two-time Grand Slam champion being floored by the flanker during a team bonding evening, with the altercation captured on CCTV. However, Henson has since opened up on his past behaviour and revealed he has been able to understand himself better after discovering the ‘chimp’ that had been running his mind, leading him to put boozing behind him.
Having “battled for a long time” with his own mind, Henson was captivated by Professor Steve Peters’ mind-management book The Chimp Paradox, which outlined how to control the ‘chimp’, or “the voice which tells you to do things you maybe shouldn’t.”
Henson was the golden boy of Welsh rugby during the 2000s(Image: Huw Evans Picture Agency Cardiff)
“I didn’t understand the thoughts I was having after games where I wanted to go out and drink,” he explained in an interview with MailOnline. “They were a million miles away from my core values and goals in rugby.
“Now, having read the book, I understand that for most of my rugby career, the chimp was controlling me and running my life more than I was. If I’d found the book while I was still playing rugby, I’d 100 per cent have been a better player and maybe I wouldn’t have made the mistakes I did.
“In social interactions, I probably need a drink because I’m an introvert,” he continued. “If I have a drink, I become more of an extrovert and the chimp has more confidence! I can be good fun on a night out! But now I choose not to go into those environments. I’m not tee-total. In the last year, I’ve probably had one good drink. There’s a place in rugby for sharing a drink with your team-mates”.
Fresh chapter as pub landlord
While Henson has scaled back his alcohol consumption, nowadays he can be spotted serving drinks behind the bar, having taken over as landlord of The Fox and Hounds pub in St Brides Major, Vale of Glamorgan in 2019.
Following comprehensive renovations and a restaurant makeover, the former Wales star shortened the establishment’s name to The Fox and runs the business alongside his wife Katie.
Discussing the enterprise with The Times, Henson revealed: “I was coming to the end of my career, and it [the pub] had been sat here for 18 months, two years. It was not nice for the village, and I needed something to do after rugby and to be busy, not to mourn rugby and get depressed, as they say everyone does.
“But be careful what you wish for because this is so full-on. We want to feel like we’ve achieved something with the pub. We’re perfectionists. We’re all about the detail.”
Henson, who is thought to possess a net worth of approximately £800,000 after previously pocketing around £120,000 annually during his playing peak, has also recently laced up his rugby boots once more.
Last September, he made his comeback with childhood team Pencoed and is now in his second campaign in League 2 West Central, representing the fourth division of Welsh rugby.
Chatting to BBC Scrum V, Henson confessed he is “loving” his return to the sport, saying: “I’m 43 now, so a bit old, as my wife tells me. But I’ve missed it, I’ve missed the physicality of it, and being in a team environment again and trying to win.
“I’m very competitive, I like trying to win, that’s the main thing. We have a good group of boys. We’re aiming for promotion, so hopefully it will be a good season and great for the club.
“I’m playing 10, I would like to play 12 but I am just not quite big enough yet. So I’ll still try to aim to get there but 10 at the moment.”
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