Celebrity Traitors star and ex-England international Joe Marler was no stranger to landing in hot water with his exploits on the pitch and punishments swiftly followed
Former England rugby star Joe Marler left his wife furious after he sledged an opponent during his playing career. His wife, Daisy, was left livid after her husband called the mother of an opposition player a ‘w***e’.
Before Marler was a media darling and star of the hit show Celebrity Traitors, the former Harlequins ace was a divisive and controversial player on and off the pitch. The 35-year-old’s outspoken nature ensured it was not uncommon for Marler to land himself in hot water with rugby authorities, his team-mates and even sometimes at home.
Now, the retired prop is set to continue his rise as he appears on the Christmas edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and he will hope to put his foot in his mouth somewhat less frequently as he becomes a regular feature of mainstream television. Though, he has ruled out appearances on Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here.
Marler may have to train his tongue if he is going to continue in the public eye, however. This faux pas only happened in 2022, before he retired last November.
The host of the Things People Do podcast targeted the mother of Bristol Bears flanker Jake Heenan. She happened to be battling cancer in the hospital at the time, though that was unknown to Marler.
A six-week ban came his way, with four weeks of it suspended, and after a stiff telling off, the 2017 British and Irish Lions star quickly seized the chance to apologise on his podcast
“I’ve f***ed it all up again,” he admitted. “I’m really sorry to Jake Heenan and his family, the guy I insulted or tried to insult, and also to my team-mates, and to the club, because they must really now be at a point where they’re like, ‘here we go again’.
“At what point do you go, ‘yeah, you can say sorry, mate, but just stop f***ing doing it?’ I guess this is the point, is it? I’m much better at that when it comes to a bit of chat or a bit of sledging. I’m usually better than just calling someone’s mum a whore.
“Usually, stuff like this is said. This is the norm. Now that may not be an excuse but is kind of a bit of a reason that you go, ‘well, it’s the norm, it’s normalised’.”
Speaking about his wife, Marler added: “She turned round to me after and she was like, ‘f***ing hell, you’re an idiot, aren’t you? You’re just a moron’. I went, ‘what do you mean? I thought you’re meant to defend me’.
“And she went, ‘why am I defending you? That’s not even a funny attempt. It’s s***’. And I went, ‘yeah, you’re right, it is s***’.
“Then when I said, ‘apparently, his mum’s in hospital’, she went, ‘f***ing hell. You couldn’t even double down even worse’. She went, ‘why don’t you just stop doing it? Or, if you feel the need to do it, just don’t bring family members into it?’.
“You never know what’s going on in people’s lives and just because it doesn’t affect you on the pitch doesn’t mean it’s not going to affect other people. Just f***ing get on with it’. And I was sitting there like, ‘oh my God, that naughty schoolboy at the back of the thing’. And I went, ‘yeah, I know you’re right. You’re absolutely spot on’.”
Marler is no stranger to causing outrage and in the 2016 Six Nations could be clearly heard on the referee’s microphone calling Welsh prop Samson Lee — who comes from a family of travellers — a ‘gypsy boy’. That incident saw Marler suspended for two matches and ordered to pay £20,000 to an equality charity.
It even emerged that the Welshman challenged Marler to a boxing match some years later. Appearing on the Socially Distant Sports Bar podcast, Marler revealed that he had recorded a video tribute for Lee after the Scarlets man announced his retirement, only for him to get in touch himself to make an unexpected offer.
“I had my incident with Gypsy-gate and Samson Lee,” the former Harlequins star said. “Someone asked me to do a retirement video for him at the Scarlets to send over to him, so I did.
“Then he got in touch just before the Autumn Series started and said ‘Alright butt, I hope you’re well. I hope things are all right. Are you interested in a charity boxing match?’ [This was] for his testimonial.”
As he recalled weighing up the offer, Marler said: “I was like ‘I’m not sure. I don’t see how I win. Even if I do win, I’m not winning. You know, I’m not winning. I sort of cowardly didn’t reply for a while and then I got a nudge message from him. He said: ‘What do you think then butt, I think we can make f***ing mint’.
“I was like: ‘Err… I know it looks like I’ve retired already, but I am still playing, so I’ll probably put it on the backburner for now’. I’m just waiting for that message to come again, now that I’ve fully retired, to be like ‘right, shall we tango?'”