Openly gay rugby ref Nigel Owens asked doctors to be chemically castrated

Rugby ref Nigel Owens asked his doctors to be chemically castrated after he realised that he was gay.

In a horrifying revelation by one of the world’s only openly gay professional sport’s referees, Nigel Owens, 45,  asked his doctor to chemically castrated him when he realised he way gay. He also revealed that he suffered from bulimia and also attempted suicide as a young adult after describing that his sexuality was “totally alien” to him.

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The referee came out in 2007 at the age of 35 and was the first openly gay referee at the highest level of the game.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, he said,

“Refereeing that World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand in front of 85,000 people and the millions of people watching at home, scrutinising every single decision you make under a huge amount of pressure, was nothing compared to the challenge of accepting who I was.”

When he released he was gay he went to his doctor and asked, “I do not want to be gay. Can I get chemically castrated?”

He told listeners on the popular BBC radio programme that he had felt great support from the Welsh Rugby Union.

He went on to say,

“Unless you are happy with who you are, you cannot excel and be the best you can be at whatever you are doing. You cannot enjoy life if you are not happy within yourself.”

Owen’s full interview can be heard on Desert Island Discs at 11:15 GMT on Sunday.