Gay Rugby Star Gareth Thomas Says He Spoke to 'The Gay Footballer'

Remember that Twitter account whose owner claimed to be a gay UK footballer on the verge of coming out?

The account shut down suddenly, the day before the supposed soccer star was going to announce his identity to the world. Many believed the whole thing had been a hoax from the start, while others believed the mystery man’s claim that he realized he isn’t yet “strong enough to do this.”

Now, openly gay former rugby star Gareth Thomas says he has actually spoken to “The Gay Footballer.”

“Away from the cameras, I reached out to him and offered him my support and gave him my number and he called me,” Thomas said. “I never asked him his name but he told me the club he played for.”

The mystery player had previously claimed that he played for a club in the Sky Bet Championship, and chronicled his (positive) experiences coming out to his manager and members of his club.

While he originally said he planned on coming out publicly on July 24, something appears to have happened that made him change his mind.

“Call me all the names under the sun, belittle me and ridicule me, a lot will, and I can’t change that, but I’m not strong enough to do this,” one of his final tweets read.

Thomas shed a little more light on the situation: “He’s a young kid who had an understanding of who he was but didn’t have an understanding of where he fitted in.”

“There is vitriol towards him because he has decided that he is not ready for it,” he added. “But it is his decision to make.”