Joe Marler is currently famous for being the one Faithful to figure out who the Traitors are on the first series of the Celebrity Traitors, but the rugby player faced his own set of personal struggles before featuring on the reality show
Joe Marler may be best known for his ferocious scrummaging on the rugby pitch, but since stepping away from the professional game, he’s become one of the most compelling figures on television as a breakout star of the Celebrity Traitors.
Yet behind the booming laugh and sharp one-liners is a man whose life has been shaped by huge emotional vulnerabilities as much as by his brute strength.
Long before viewers saw him accusing fellow contestants of being Traitors around Claudia Winkleman’s roundtable, Joe faced a more personal battle far away from the cameras.
During his time as a rugby player, Joe earned more than 80 caps for England and spent over a decade anchoring the front row for Harlequins.
He was part of England’s 2016 Grand Slam-winning squad under Eddie Jones, played in multiple Six Nations tournaments, and helped Harlequins secure their dramatic 2021 Premiership title.
But around 18 months before the 2019 World Cup, the former England prop suffered a severe mental health crisis that culminated in him destroying his own kitchen. That was the moment he finally realised he needed help.
Joe Marler’s struggles with depression
After a minor disagreement with his wife Daisy while driving home, which he now recognises he was too mentally fragile to handle, he lost control.
In 2020, Joe told The Guardian: “I snapped. We got home and I just spiralled and lost control. I turned over the kitchen, punched in one of the doors.
“Then I got in the truck and drove off. I had no idea where I was going or what I was doing. But it was a massive turning point because it was the most ashamed I’ve ever been.”
When he eventually returned home, Daisy was in tears. He added: “She says: ‘I was never scared of you. I was just upset and wondering who you were and what you were doing.’”
At the time, Joe was struggling with depression, and often found himself crying alone in his car before training. He admitted he didn’t fully understand what was happening to him.
The next day he was confronted by the Harlequins doctor over having an injured hand from punching his door, and he credits that moment with setting him on the path to getting therapy and taking antidepressants.
He has spoken about this period in his life openly in his rugby memoir, where he attempts to inject some humour into his discussion about living with mental illness. “Why can’t you laugh about depression?” he asked. “Why can’t you use laughter as a tool to help cope?”
Why Joe Marler really quit rugby
Although Joe Marler’s skills on the pitch made him a fan favourite in rugby, he spent years quietly wrestling with the pressure of the sport.
His decision to step away from playing for England duty and eventually retire from international rugby altogether wasn’t driven by injury or issues with his form, but by his declining mental health.
.Joe has been open about the fact that the pinnacle of his career often came at the lowest point of his personal life. During intense training blocks and international tours, he found himself struggling with depression and feeling disconnected from his wife Daisy and their four children.
He has spoken about the guilt he felt watching Daisy shoulder the burden of parenting their young kids alone, and how missing big family milestones such as birthdays and first days of school took a toll on him.
The constant cycle of leaving home, performing under immense scrutiny, and returning emotionally drained eventually became unsustainable for him.
Joe Marler’s new career ventures
Since leaving the pitch in 2018, although he made brief reappearances until finally retiring for good in 2024, Joe seems a lot happier. He has launched a successful podcast and dipped into producing tongue-in-cheek content for his audience online.
In 2023, he even caused a stir by launching a spoof OnlyFans dedicated entirely to photos of his feet. In the announcement video, he joked: “9/10 certified by a foot health specialist.”
He also took up padel, and even captained a team on the Cupra Pro Am Padel Tour. But it’s his latest venture, joining the cast of Celebrity Traitors, that has introduced him to a wider audience.
Joe entered the BBC reality series as a Faithful, and has quickly became one of this season’s biggest personalities as he became the only person to figure out who the real Traitors were and began a campaign to root them out of the castle.
