The estranged wife of former Scotland captain Stuart Hogg has broken her silence after he admitted abusing her. Earlier this week, the 32-year-old full-back pleaded guilty to a single charge of domestic abuse when he appeared at Selkirk Sherriff Court. The court heard how he shouted and swore at his wife Gillian, tracked her movements and sent her hundreds of "alarming and distressing" messages over a five year period between 2019 and 2024.
Hogg's appalling behaviour towards Gillian left her feeling fearful and even caused her to have a panic attack. The court also heard how he had berated his wife for "not being fun" after going on drinking binges and that she would be "scared" of her husband when he became angry.
The couple, who have four children together, are in the process of divorcing. With ex-Exeter Chiefs and Glasgow man Hogg due to be sentenced next month, Gillian has now taken to social media to thank people for their support.
"Iv (sic) thought long and hard about a Facebook post, what to say, what not to," she wrote. "But there’s nothing more important that needs to come from this than a thank you.
"Thank you to every single person who has reached out to me in ways of love, kindness and support. Who have text, messaged, called, visited, sent flowers. Who have gave me a hi, a smile, a hug or even just a look to show they care."
Looking ahead to the "next chapter" of her life, Gillian added: "My friends and family have picked me up and carried me through this all and il (sic) be grateful forever for them all. I have been completely overwhelmed this week especially. The abundance of support and love has swamped me in the most positive way. Thank you.
"Now, it’s time to start my next chapter. To move on and to keep showing my kids every day that strength comes from unconditional love and support around you, and even when it hurts, love wins."
A Prodigy With a Dark Side
In a country dominated by football, it is rare for someone from a 'minority' sport to capture the attention of everyone who watched him. Even as a fresh-faced 18-year-old, Stuart Hogg did exactly that. His debut for Glasgow Warriors, back in February 2011 when the pro-rugby side was playing at Firhill Stadium, gave a tantalising glimpse of what was to come, an exciting style of play married with a fearlessness that would propel him up the levels.
An international debut came a year later. Hogg's first try came eight minutes into his first start against France in the Six Nations. That, in itself, was an impressive achievement given that between November 2009 and February 2011, Scotland hadn’t scored a single try at test level.
Even football fans, more accustomed to watching Partick Thistle in a 3pm kick off in Maryhill, could see that this was a generational talent.
Hogg soon became the face of Scottish rugby, pivotal in Glasgow Warriors’ Pro 12 success in 2015 and the youngest player to reach 100 appearances for the club at 24 years of age in 2017. by then he was widely recognised as one of the best in world rugby which, despite a strong rugby tradition, is not something that often happens in Scotland. By the time he retired, his status as one of the international greats was secured as Scotland’s all-time record try scorer.
He also starred for the British and Irish Lions and would undoubtedly have made a greater impact at that level had it not been for unlucky injuries at unfortunate times.
Such was his legend Hogg was even mentioned in “Pottermore”, the digital Harry Potter world which followed the book series, with JK Rowling suggesting that he was a wizard masquerading as a ‘muggle’ – or 'non magic folk' for those who don’t have any interest in Harry Potter.
However, throughout his career, there was always an undercurrent, an underlying feeling that something wasn’t quite right, that there was more to his story.
Those within journalism knew he could be difficult to deal with, rumours swirled around his personal life, and, while some journalists enjoyed good experiences with him, my own, admittedly limited interactions, left an uneasy feeling. Others felt the same.
The occasional, strained encounter could never imagined what was taking place behind closed doors. The recent court case has illuminated some of that darkness.
The Abusive Nature Behind The Glory
Earlier this week, Hogg pleaded guilty to a charge of domestic abuse against his wife Gillian, the mother of his four children. Hogg admitted to shouting and swearing in an abusive manner, to repeatedly tracking her movements and sending alarming and distressing messages to her. On one occasion, he sent more than 200 messages in the space of a couple of hours.
The abuse took place over the course of five years, during which time Hogg was named captain of Scotland, stripped of the captaincy - allegedly over disciplinary issues in camp - and then abruptly retired, announcing his departure from the game shortly before the World Cup in 2023.
At the time, Hogg blamed it on his “body not being able to do the things I wanted and needed it to do”.
He also stated that he wanted to spend more time with his family adding: “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’.
“His little face, and he’s out in the rain… I sit there and I watch him, and he’s on his own, and I’m like: ‘this is absolutely breaking me’. I want to be there for my kids.”
The timing of the news came as a shock to the broader public but again, among those close to the sport, there was a gut feeling that there was more to the decision.
Within a couple of months of the announcement of his retirement, it emerged he had split from wife Gillian – who was pregnant with their fourth child – and in a relationship with TV presenter Leonna Mayor.
Off-field issues then began to bubble to the surface. He saw in the New Year at his brother’s house, to which the police were called. That incident came to nothing, but by the end of 2024 his reputation was in tatters.
He was arrested in February and news soon started to emerge about his home life and what his wife had been experiencing.
Shouting, swearing and stalking were all part of the five-year terror. Gillian admitted that she was scared every time he went out drinking while she stayed at home with the children. The abuse would escalate when alcohol was consumed.
He accused her of “not being fun” when she couldn’t go drinking and would stay in with the children. He tracked her on the 'find my phone' app, which led to her having a panic attack.
After the first arrest he checked himself into rehab and appeared to use his problems as an excuse but insisted he had taken accountability and was going in the right direction.
Hogg was later arrested again for breaching his bail conditions and spent a night in the cells.
Hogg's Double Life
Jilly O'Donnell, 47, claims she discovered he was still with his wife when the former rugby captain gave a TV interview to reveal they were expecting their fourth child. Hogg, 32, was outed after he pleaded guilty to a charge of domestic abuse against estranged wife Gillian.
If the case had gone to trial, the sportsman would have also faced a charge of bombarding Jilly, 47, with hundreds of messages and phone calls. She has now decided to speak out about the torment she suffered in the belief that other women may have had similar experiences, reports the Daily Record.
Jilly, a student nurse from Newcastle, said: “His actions and behaviour have caused so much hurt and anger. He knows that but somehow, he will still end up being the victim.”
She met Hogg when he started liking her photographs on Instagram during the pandemic in 2020. A single parent to three adult children, she said she was in a vulnerable position during lockdown but was flattered by the attention from Hogg who was 15 years younger than her.
Hogg, who was a full-back with Premiership side Exeter Chiefs at the time, told Jilly that he was separated but still living with his wife for the sake of their three young children.
She said: “We confided in each other, became best friends. He became everything to me. He would often tell me he liked that we had skin on skin contact, he missed that contact with another human being.
“Over three years, we would meet up for walks, go hiking across Dartmoor, message, call, Facetime all the time. We would go swimming every morning before he headed to work. He would call me from the dressing room and immediately after a big Scotland game.
“He would stay out drinking for hours and I’d pick him up at 5am with a drink in his hand. I had no reason to believe he had anyone else to go home to and that he was still happily married. I was naive.”
In March 2023, Hogg announced his intention to retire from professional rugby after the upcoming Rugby World Cup. He later revised this and in July 2023 announced his immediate retirement from the sport. Hogg has since emerged from retirement and now plays for French club Montpellier.
Jilly said the pair parted ways romantically when Hogg and his wife returned home to Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, in April last year. Hogg told Jilly they were only living together in Exeter for the sake of their children - but they were no longer together.
It was in a television interview that Jilly learned Hogg wasn’t separated and his wife was actually pregnant with their fourth child. Jilly said Hogg still tried to convince her that they had a future together but she told him to return to his family.
Jilly said: “I was so shocked, I had no idea. We had been seeing each other plenty of times before he had moved. But he told me, ‘you know what I’m like when I’m drunk’ and said he wouldn’t put me through all this if he didn’t think we had a future and wanted to be with me.”
The pair cut contact when Hogg began a relationship with his current girlfriend, jockey Leonna Mayor. Police interviewed Jilly as a witness and after reviewing the couple’s communication, brought a charge against Hogg for a course of conduct which caused her fear or alarm between April 2023 and August 2024.
Prosecutors filed six charges against Hogg, spanning from January 2017 to July 2024 with one against Jilly between April 2023 and August this year.
Hogg pled guilty at Selkirk Sheriff Court, in the Borders, to one single charge of abusing Gillian between 2019 and 2024. He admitted shouting and swearing at his wife in an aggressive manner, and would accuse her of “not being fun” for staying upstairs with their children.
He bombarded her with more than 200 messages over the course of a couple of hours as well as monitoring her movements through a phone app after they had split up in 2023 and, at one point, caused her to have a panic attack.
A Legacy Tarnished
Hogg faces sentencing next month for domestic abuse amid growing calls for him to be stripped of the MBE awarded for services to rugby in the 2024 New Year Honours list.
Meanwhile Scottish rugby fans were delighted to see gentle giant, Duhan van der Merwe, smash Hogg’s try-scoring record. With Darcy Graham also battling for that accolade, Hogg's name is being mentioned less and less when it comes to the actual sport and on-field achievements.
A prodigy who should have set the standard for all future Scotland rugby players will be remembered as little more than a domestic abuser. An incredible rugby career, that should have been remembered and glorified for years to come, is already being relegated to a footnote in Scottish rugby history.
