41 Facts About Gavin Henson

Gavin Lloyd Henson was born on 1 February 1982 and is a Welsh former professional rugby union player, who played as a fly-half, fullback and inside centre.

Gavin Henson was part of a Wales team which won Grand Slams in the Six Nations Championship in 2005 and 2008.

Since 2010, Henson has participated in several reality television series: 71 Degrees North, Strictly Come Dancing, The Bachelor and Celebrity Hunted.

Gavin Henson was presented with the International Rugby Board's Young Player of the Year award in 2001.

Gavin Henson made his international debut for Wales during June 2001 in a Test against Japan, coming off the bench.

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Gavin Henson then started his next match, at fly-half in a game against Romania on 19 September 2001.

Gavin Henson made his debut for the Ospreys as a substitute on 9 September 2003 in a match against Ulster, scoring two tries and kicking both a penalty and conversion to score 15 points.

Gavin Henson was moved to fly-half for the subsequent match against the Newport-Gwent Dragons, scoring 14 points from kicks.

Gavin Henson returned to the international field for Wales in 2003.

Gavin Henson played twice, and was on the bench for two other Tests.

Gavin Henson was capped against both the All Blacks and Romania.

Gavin Henson came to wider notice in 2004 with a series of performances in Wales' autumn internationals against New Zealand and South Africa.

Gavin Henson became a firm part of the Welsh starting line-up, and after playing at fullback in the second Test against Argentina and the first against South Africa, he played in the centres for the remainder of the season.

Gavin Henson remained on the team for the 2005 Six Nations Championship.

Back in his club side, Gavin Henson was part of a team which took the Celtic League cup: in the deciding match against Edinburgh on 26 March 2005, he scored 24 of his side's 29 points.

Gavin Henson was "devastated not to be playing" in the first Test.

Gavin Henson was found not guilty of the kicking offence, but guilty of the elbowing.

Gavin Henson was initially suspended for ten weeks and two days: this period was reduced on appeal to seven weeks.

Gavin Henson was not selected in the Wales squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup by then coach Gareth Jenkins, after he failed to prove his fitness after recovering from an Achilles tendon injury.

Gavin Henson was recalled to the Welsh Squad by caretaker coach Nigel Davies, to play against South Africa shortly after the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Gavin Henson then started for of all of Wales 2008 Six Nations Championship games, Wales then went on to win the Grand Slam for the second time in four seasons.

Gavin Henson said, "I've certainly been having difficulties with the recurring injury but I have absolutely no intention of quitting the game".

In 2009, Mike Turner of the Crusaders RL stated that if Gavin Henson ever thought of switching to rugby league the club would be happy to talk to him.

Since this time, Gavin Henson has made no official statement on the subject, shown any intent with regards to joining a Super League club or held any talks with the Crusaders, although he regularly attended their matches in 2009.

On 27 October 2010, Ospreys released a statement from Managing Director, Mike Cuddy, stating that Gavin Henson would be released from his contract with the province with immediate effect, and that he would be returning to rugby with the English club Saracens.

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Gavin Henson had not played professional Rugby for 18 months before this announcement following his period of unpaid leave from the Ospreys.

Gavin Henson had been reported as having trained with Saracens two days prior to this announcement on 25 October 2010, leading to speculation that the return to professional rugby was imminent.

Gavin Henson signed for Saracens in October 2010, making his debut at Wembley Stadium in the Boxing Day 2010 match against London Wasps; his first competitive game since March 2009.

Gavin Henson had commented while at Saracens that he was frustrated not to be playing in his preferred position.

On 4 June 2011, Gavin Henson played his first match for Wales in 2 years, starting against the Barbarians, Gavin Henson put in a good performance, although he described his match as merely "showing glimpses of what he can do".

On 11 August 2011, Gavin Henson started for Wales in a warmup test against rivals England at Millennium Stadium, but left late in the first half after dislocating his wrist.

The airline Flybe, which Gavin Henson was flying with, banned him from the airline for a six-month period.

On 13 June 2013, it was announced that Gavin Henson was to leave London Welsh, who had been relegated that year, to join Bath for the next season.

Gavin Henson has been included in the Probables squad for the Wales trial match on 30 May 2014 in Swansea but was unable to take part due to Premier Rugby Limited's decision not to release non English players outside the IRB test window.

On 23 January 2015, it was announced Gavin Henson would be leaving Bath to join RFU Championship side Bristol, at the end of the Aviva Premiership season on a one-year deal.

Gavin Henson then featured as a contestant on BBC1's Strictly Come Dancings eighth series, partnered by Katya Virshilas.

Gavin Henson has been criticised for these appearances in the press and by many rugby fans.

Gavin Henson was excused from a 13 December 2008 Heineken Cup match against Benetton Treviso because Church was due to deliver her second child prematurely, but this did not happen.

In 2011 Gavin Henson chose Carianne Barrow to be his girlfriend on reality television series The Bachelor.

On 28 September 2019, Gavin Henson married his long term partner Katie Wilson Mould at St Michael's and All Angels Church in Guiting Power, on the outskirts of Cheltenham, in Gloucestershire.

In May 2019 Gavin Henson became the landlord of The Fox and Hounds in St Brides Major in the Vale of Glamorgan.