Gethin Jones' fall during his 24-hour 'Skate-a-thon' for Comic Relief was not the first time he took a huge bash to the head. Jones, 47, was left in a huge heap when his roller skate got caught on a rink opening as he was gliding round, causing him to fall forward onto his lower back and also hit his head. It was a painful-looking tumble, which immediately prompted people in the vicinity to check on his condition. While he admitted he is still in agony, he went on to finish the challenge alongside Helen Skelton. Jones was in visible pain while explaining what he thought went wrong. He said: "I don't know how I fell down. I went to get a drink and I kicked the side of the wall and I've had hit the wall a few times metaphorically but now I've hit it physically." It's certainly not the first time the former Strictly Come Dancing contestant has taken a painful bump given his past as a promising rugby player. Here, Wales Online take a closer look at his sporting past and personal life. Rugby career Jones may be known for his cheery demeanour on TV, but there was a time when he was a fearless scrum-half who would dive head-first into boots. He used to play for Clwb Rygbi Cymry Caerdydd, a side who were all fluent in Welsh and often confused opposition players with their game-play chatter in their own language. Inspired by Welsh greats Robert Jones and Scotty Gibbs, the This Morning presenter was a scrum half. In an interview with the Rugby Journal, Jones explained why he quit rugby: "I quit rugby for Blue Peter. I probably finished playing too young. It was 12th April 2004, and I remember that because I went back and played for Clwb Rygbi, and we won the district cup final at the Principality Stadium in front of about 5,000. "It was special, and every year there’s an anniversary where we all bring our tankers that we won in that match to drink out of. I was 26 and that was around the time I started television [Jones joined Blue Peter the year after from Welsh television] and so had to quit rugby, not because I was worried about getting smashed up, it was just the nature of the job to travel all the time so never being able to train or be available for matches." Despite carving out a hugely successful career for himself on TV, Jones admitted he missed the sport, having not played since 2011. "I miss smashing people legally," he said. "I know that sounds weird, but you do need a bit of a release which is why the gym is still important to me. And also, everyone says this, but there’s this special friendship that you have with people. "My last game was in 2011. When the Rest of the World played England at The Stoop. I got celebrity man of the match and I’ve dined out on it ever since. Rory Lawson and me were playing scrum-half and I played nine minutes, sidestepped a prop, and it looked good on telly. Celebrity man of the match – how bad is that!?". Split from famous fiancee While competing on Strictly Come Dancing in 2007, Jones ended up meeting iconic opera singer Katherine Jenkins, who was a guest on the show while he was competing. A romance quickly blossomed, and four years later, the pair were engaged. They would not go on to tie the knot, as they split up at the end of 2011. As they admitted during their social media announcements, this decision left both of them heartbroken. During her tours, Jenkins admitted the break-up left her "in pieces" and feeling like a "total mess". Jones was also left wounded by their break-up, admitting, when he looks back, that he may have been suffering from a bad bout of depression. In an interview on the Mirror's 'Outdoor Minds' podcast, Jones said: "I remember doing BBC Radio 5Live and going into the toilet at 5.30am going, 'All right. Come on. Just focus for the next three hours, and then you can go back to being sad again.' I definitely had a bad bout of depression during that time." Jenkins later married American director Andrew Levitas and had two children. In August 2023, Jones was spotted at the West End with First Dates waitress Cici Coleman, watching the hit show 2:22 A Ghost Story at the Apollo Theatre. While an insider claimed they had grown close, neither confirmed nor denied whether there was any more romantic involvement after that point. Jones' rugby pals As you can imagine, Jones has encountered plenty of famous faces and counts many as his friends. However, only the sports stars he's met have left him starstruck - with former Welsh centre Scott Gibbs the first to give him that feeling. He is now good friends with Gibbs and once revealed how their first meeting ended up in a booze-filled night out. In my job I’m never starstruck, except for sports people. The first person I probably met was Scott Gibbs," he said. "I remember when Warren Gatland took over in 2008 and we hadn’t beaten England at Twickenham for however many years. I was on a table [at Twickenham] with Lawrence Dallaglio and my hero Scott Gibbs, and Lawrence said ‘I think you boys could do it today, but hold on, why aren’t you two drinking?’. Next thing we know, Wales have won, it’s 3.30am, I’m stumbling around Richmond arm-in-arm with Gibbsy, my all-time hero, that was pretty special." Gibbs is not Jones' only rugby star pal. He is also close with Jamie Roberts, Jon Davies and his best friend of University is Danny Scarbrough. He even lived with Welsh and British and Irish Lions winger George North during the Coronavirus lockdowns. "He {George] had an issue with his flat because of flooding and I needed someone to stay in my flat, so him, his wife Becky, their son Jack and two sausage dogs moved in," he explained at the time. "It was incredible seeing the discipline of George every day. The faff of recovery, we all go to the gym and do a few stretches and think we’re done, so when you see what a professional rugby player has to do... Even when we’re watching box sets, he’d be in a game-ready suit stretching while I’m there eating chocolate buttons. Then there’s the diet too, the discipline to eat, when and what, especially when he’s a dad as well, so not always having the sleep."