Wales rugby legend Gavin Henson has explained how his life changed after discovering an inner ‘chimp’ during his time on Strictly Come Dancing.

Henson, whose international career spanned from 2001 to 2011, was at one point one of the world’s best and most recognisable rugby players. But he faded from the limelight as his career fell into obscurity, before eventually retiring in 2019.

Now 42, it is widely believed that Henson never reached his lofty potential in the sport, with the former fly-half keeping a low profile and putting all of his energy into running a gastro pub - ‘The Fox’ in St Brides Major, Wales.

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He puts his unfulfilled potential partly down to ‘The Chimp Paradox’ - a metaphor for the more impulsive and emotional side of our brains that reacts without thinking. Henson says the 'human side', which is responsible for more rational and logical thinking, took greater control over the course of his career.

Recalling his inner discovery, the rugby icon revealed on the latest episode of 'The Big Jim Show' that he was once flown up to the Scottish Borders in a helicopter by former Ospreys owner Mike Cuddy to speak to a psychologist.

They spoke for two hours about his persistent injuries, which the staff had thought was all in the Wales star's head, before being stunned to hear about his 'chimp'. Henson said: "After two hours, he more or less threw his book down and said 'I cannot work with this guy'. I was like - 'What?!' - he works with criminals and psychos. He said - 'His chimp is in full control!'"

The Welshman said the professor never explained what the 'chimp' comment meant, with Cuddy and himself joking about it in the helicopter back to Wales. He continued: "Fast forward about three years, I'm in London doing Strictly Come Dancing - during my time out of rugby - I walk into Waterstones and the number one seller is 'The Chimp Paradox'.

"I just see the chimp and it just hit a note. I looked at it and I saw the author's name - Doctor Steve Peters. That's the guy I saw! So, I bought the book. Wow. I read that and it was life-changing. I understood myself, it helped me in every aspect of life. From going through a break up, with kids, with rugby. I can see other people's chimp, I can see when their chimp is in control of them, and I can learn how to deal with my chimp."

He added: "You also need the chimp. He's that animal side in you, which you need for rugby. I think that's where I got lost a little bit in rugby. I started to control the chimp a little bit when I didn't need to - I needed him to take over, he was the guy that played rugby. Because I was controlling him so much, I lost a little bit of my game at that point."

The former Bristol star claims that with the adrenaline-fuelled rugby matchdays, it was hard to come down from that high and calm down the chimp side of his mind, which would often lead to drinking and going out after a big game. That urge led to some controversial moments, with Henson making the front pages rather than the back on more than one occasion.

Later in his career, he would combat it by sitting in the changing rooms for two hours, waiting for everyone to shower and go home. That allowed him to quietly calm down before heading home himself.