British and Irish Lions star who dated Charlotte Church is now pub landlord with huge net worth

Daily Mirror

25-07-2025

Representing the British and Irish Lions is the pinnacle of rugby in the northern hemisphere, but one former tourist who was engaged to Charlotte Church now runs a successful pub
Once referred to as 'the David Beckham of rugby ', Gavin Henson seemed to be primed for a spot among the sport's true greats. There was even a point when the darling of Wales featured in headlines on a regular basis, and not always for his feats on the pitch.
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As the British and Irish Lions look to seal a series win over Australia on Saturday, fans will be reminded of Henson's part he played on the 2005 tour of New Zealand.
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The fly-half-cum-centre, who later competed on Strictly Come Dancing during a rugby sabbatical, travelled to the other side of the world to face the All Blacks, who were at the time a nigh-unstoppable force on the field.
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In addition to being a glitzy character in his athletic career, Henson also had the celebrity love life to go with it following his relationship with Charlotte Church. The star duo were even engaged to be wed at one point but ultimately called off their nuptials.
Henson retired from professional rugby in 2019 but made a brief comeback for local club Pencoed last year. However, the Welshman has by no means been idle in retirement after becoming the landlord of a successful pub close to home.
Here, Mirror Sport looks at his time with the Lions and his life away from rugby.
Gavin Henson's Lions experience
Henson's lifespan with the Lions was relatively short and not-so-sweet. At a time when New Zealand were an almost undeniable force in rugby union, a tour to to their neck of the woods represented the kind of test that would intimidate even the most seasoned of veterans.
Henson was barely 23 when he was called up by coach Clive Woodward, making five appearances for the Lions that summer. That included one cap at centre in the second Test, which ended in a grisly 48-18 defeat to the hosts, who swept the series 3-0.
Although he might sooner forget, Henson was partly at fault for New Zealand's opening try that day in Wellington. It was his missed tackle on Dan Carter that saw the All Blacks race 70 metres up the pitch, with captain Tana Umaga going over to put his side in front.
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A stinger injury ruled Henson, who scored two tries against Southland in a previous warm-up fixture, out of the third Test. However, the damage was done by that point as a second straight Test defeat put any chance at victory out of the Lions' reach.
More recently, Henson correctly predicted head coach Andy Farrell would call his son, Owen, up to the squad. And he also made an intriguing outside-the-box call for England's Fin Smith to start the Tests ahead of Scotland counterpart Finn Russell, though that hasn't materialised yet.
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"The No. 10 spot is a big decision for Farrell to make… probably the biggest," Henson told The Rugby Paper in June. "Personally, I would start with Smith. He brings other players around him into the game, whereby with Finn Russell it is more of an individual thing. You need to bring the whole game around him – and I'm not sure we have the time with the limited warm-up games to do that."
What is Gavin Henson's net worth?
It's difficult to ascertain an exact figure when it comes to Henson's current net worth, but Yahoo! estimated earlier this year that he's valued at roughly £800,000. That's based largely around his career as a rugby player, with little known about his current earnings as landlord of The Fox pub in the Vale of Glamorgan.
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Henson first emerged as a prospect with Swansea and then Ospreys, who were at one point a force to be reckoned with in Europe. That culminated in the player being awarded a four-year deal with the club in 2005, which The Guardian reported to be worth £750,000 (almost £190,000 per year before tax).
In the early days of rugby's professional era, this was considered a massive sum, particularly for one only starting out their career. After that contract ended, Henson had stints with Saracens, Toulon, Cardiff, Bath, Bristol, the Dragons and others but failed to fully regain the form he enjoyed in the early days of his rise.
After retiring at Newport in 2019, the versatile back made a swift move into pub management when he took over as landlord of The Fox (The Fox and Hounds). Fast-forward to today, and Henson has made a serious success of his investment, promoting his brand at speaking events.
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Speaking to The Times, he said: "I was coming to the end of my career, and it [the pub] had been sat here for 18 months, two years. It was not nice for the village, and I needed something to do after rugby and to be busy, not to mourn rugby and get depressed, as they say everyone does.
"But be careful what you wish for because this is so full-on. We want to feel like we've achieved something with the pub. We're perfectionists. We're all about the detail."
Charlotte Church relationship
Henson and Church went public with their relationship in 2005 when the former was enjoying the peak of his rugby career. Church gave birth to their first child, daughter Ruby, in September 2007.
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The pair welcomed a son, Dexter, in January 2009 and looked set to wed after announcing their engagement the same year. However, the date was called off in mid-2010 when Henson and Church decided to go their separate ways.
The five-year relationship was a frequent feature in newspaper and gossip magazines. That publicity likely played a heavy role in the eventual break-up, with both Henson and singer Church widely scrutinised after bursting into stardom as youngsters.
The pair have never aired details behind their split, though Church said it was a joint-decision, telling Heat Magazine: "When he proposed, I was overjoyed. It was amazing. I really was going to marry Gav and spend the rest of my life with him.
"But then he came back from Norway [where he filmed reality show 71 Degrees North], and he'd changed, and I'd had time to think. We had both had a change of heart, so we were both of the same mind."
It's understood the two maintain a healthy relationship today as they co-parent their teenage offspring. Henson has since found love again after tying the knot with Katie Wilson Mould in 2019, while Church married musician Jonathan Powell two years prior.