Joe Marley, a former England international rugby player, is currently starring in the BBC’s star-studded spin-off of the Traitors.
Celebrity Traitor star Joe Marler has candidly discussed his struggle with depression and the shame he felt after ‘racially abusing’ a fellow player.
The ex-England rugby player, who is currently gracing our screens in the BBC’s star-studded spin-off of The Traitors, boasts an impressive career on the pitch with nearly 300 appearances for Harlequins under his belt.
However, he was dealing with mental health issues that caused violent confrontations on the field before hanging up his boots in 2024, which later had an impact on his family life.
Joe went through his darkest days while hosting the High Performance podcast with host Jake Humphrey, revealing: “I was always described as quite bipolar.”
He went on to say: “I had gone through quite a couple different on field incidents and there was one in particular against England v Wales, where I ended up racially abusing a Welsh player from traveller descent.”, reports Wales Online.
The sportsman confessed: “I didn’t know where to turn, what I’d done and I was like I need to get out of this. I just need to withdraw completely and I pulled out of the England tour to Australia that year.
Fast forward nine months and I’m starting to experience similar emotions without these incidents, first with punching people on the pitch or verbally abusing others.
When his wife Daisy was left torn on the floor and pleaded with him to get professional help, Joe described a heartbreaking moment in his personal life.
The couple, who have four children, Pixie, Maggie, Felix, and Jasper, are proud parents of four.
Joe shared a heart-wrenching revelation, “Then it started settling into my home.” Then I lost control. I’m turning the house over because Daisy is seven months pregnant at the time.
He continued, “I just left, I left her, I’m gone,” punching the walls, opening the doors, shouting, and screaming.
The sportsman said, “That image of her lying on the floor crying her eyes out seven months pregnant, like that’s burned into my memory of my most embarrassed I’ve been,” in a clearly emotional way.
“That was like a crescendo of what had been building, of how I’ve been feeling, and then a content thought of not wanting to be here any more.”
He came to the conclusion that, “I was at a very low point in my life; I had hit rock bottom, and then I sought help. I then began receiving therapy and medication, and I began to realize what I had around my beautiful wife and my children.”
Source: Mirror
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