Tumultuous life of ‘rugby rockstar’ Stuart Hogg – from ‘rock paper scissors’ tragedy to wife Gillian’s traumatic birth

5 months ago 39

IT must have seemed like the cruellest betrayal of all.

As Gillian Hogg cradled her newborn baby, her rugby hero husband Stuart let the world know he had moved on from their marriage by enjoying a spa weekend with his new flame Leonna Mayor.

The ex-rugby union star, 31, is believed to have split from Gillian, 36, after seven years of marriage while she was pregnant with their fourth child.

As she recovered from giving birth on November 7, ITV racing pundit and former flat rider Leonna, 32, dubbed the ‘world’s sexiest jockey’, shared a snap of her and Stuart in a steam room, captioned: “The least Mondayest Monday ever.”

Friends say Gillian is “heartbroken” by the speed at which her husband has moved on, with one telling The Sun: “How much does one woman have to take?

“The last thing any new mum would want is to see the father of her children flaunting his new relationship on social media. She just can’t wrap her head around the timing of it all.”

Hogg, who shares kids Olivia, Archie, George and the newborn with Gillian, retired from rugby in July to spend more time with his family.

They went through a traumatic ordeal with son Archie; he was delivered by emergency caesarean at Borders General Hospital more than six weeks early after Gillian suffered pre-eclampsia, a potentially fatal condition.

Hogg described the situation as “scary”, saying: “We were hanging on for as long as possible without putting Gill and the wee man in danger.

“Gill was worried if Archie was going to be alright and if she was. Whatever apprehension I was feeling, times that by a hundred for her. But she was an absolute star.”

Stuart and wife Gillian with two of their four children[/caption]

Hogg started playing rugby aged 19 and was labelled rugby’s ‘first rock star’ after becoming the saviour of the Scottish team.

He notched up his 100th international in this year’s Six Nations when he played against Ireland, and played on three British and Irish Lions tours.

Hogg is Scotland’s all-time top try scorer and often made a ‘W’ sign to the heavens after scoring – in tribute to a close friend he lost in a car crash in 2009.

He and Richard Wilkinson had been waiting for a minibus to collect them from a sevens tournament when another friend offered them a lift.

They played rock, paper, scissors to determine who would sit in the front passenger seat, with Richard winning.

He was killed instantly when the driver of the Peugeot GTI ended up in a 90mph race along a country road in Kelso in the Scottish Borders and lost control at a sharp bend.

Hogg, who was sitting in the back, survived after punching his way out the window to escape the wreckage.

He said in 2016: “Losing [Richard] had a massive impact on my life. He’s missed out on so many things… The loss of Richard is with me every day, and I don’t want to see anyone go through the heartache we have.”

Hogg added: “Every time I go on the pitch, I play for the two of us. He’s always with me, on and off the field.”

The drivers of both cars were jailed for four-and-a-half years for causing death by dangerous driving.

Glamorous wedding

Hogg married Gillian at Barony Castle in Peeblesshire in 2016 in a ceremony splashed across the pages of Hello! magazine.

Daughter Olivia was a year old and Archie came along after their wedding, followed by George in 2019.

Hogg appeared to enjoy his ‘rock star’ reputation; five years ago he began a ‘glow up’ with a hair transplant which he grew into a ‘man bun’.

He later went on to have veneers fitted.

He was teased by fans on social media, but didn’t take it well, raging: “I find it incredibly frustrating and annoying that my appearance has somehow taken over my ability to play rugby according to ‘fans’ of the game.

“My hair. My teeth. My f*****g choice with what I do. No matter how many times it’s heckled, written, commented on, I will continue to be me.

Why? Because I’ve every f****** right to. I have a man bun. I have had dental treatment. Give over. It’s old news.”

Stuart had a hair transplant and veneers[/caption]

Controversy

In March 2022, Hogg courted controversy when he and five other Scotland players went on a boozy bender after beating Italy.

They were set to play Ireland when they broke protocol by leaving the team’s hotel.

Over the years the tough game took its toll on Hogg’s body.

He suffered a knee and ankle injury and lamented being unable to play with seven-year-old Archie afterwards.

Hogg said at the time: “I got to the stage in my rugby career that I was missing my kids growing up.

“When my son, who is seven, turns up to me, and I come home from training, and he’s like, ‘Dad, do you want to go outside and play football?’ And I’m like, ‘Mate, I can’t. I genuinely can’t, like I’m absolutely beat’.”

Sad split

Hoog with three of his four children[/caption]

The British and Irish Lions ace spoke in June about how he and Gillian were excited about the future, telling the Telegraph: “As soon as I said I was retiring, I relaxed straight away.

“Since then my wife has said I have been a completely different person.

“That was scary to me because the last time she said that was during Covid, during lockdown (when there was no rugby).

“I don’t want my mood to be affected by my body and I don’t want to be taking it out on the wrong people.”

It’s not known when Hogg and Gillian split; pals claim the marriage crumbled and she took their kids to her mum’s after he refused to leave the family home in Hawick.

A pal said: “His refusal to leave the family home has meant a huge upheaval for her and the kids but she just couldn’t stay there any longer.”

The couple then removed ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ from their social media profiles, and Gillian failed to mention him in her picture of baby Phoebe, who she described as the “final piece to my little family”.

The one-time Scotland captain now works as a pundit for TNT Sports.