News of Hogg’s arrest emerged almost a fortnight after he was stripped of his MBE. He received the gong in the 2024 New Year Honours for his services to rugby but pleaded guilty the following November to abusing Gillian over a period of five years, for which he received a one-year community payback order.

The removal of the honour was confirmed in a notice in The Gazette – the official public record – which read: “The King has directed that the appointment of Stuart William Hogg to be a Member of the Civil Division of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, dated 30 December 2023 shall be cancelled and annulled and that his name shall be erased from the Register of the said Order.”

The 33-year-old was sentenced in January last year, after which Gillian branded his community payback order “absolutely no punishment”.

She told the Scottish Sun: “My first thought was, ‘Is that it?’ It’s not enough. No sentence will ever be enough for all of the abuse, heartache and pain he put me through for years. It feels like that hasn’t been acknowledged.”

In October, Hogg admitted retiring from rugby to try to save his marriage was the “biggest mistake” of his life. Hogg, who won 100 caps for Scotland and went on three British and Irish Lions tours, claimed he “did not know what was going on in life” at the end of his rugby career and that he was “up to his eyeballs in antidepressants”.

“I missed the buzz, the changing room, the banter. I missed rugby more than I ever realised. I gave up on my rugby career to try to save my marriage. At the time, I didn’t know who I was,” the former Exeter Chiefs full-back told The Rugby Paper.

“I was up to my eyeballs in antidepressants. I didn’t know what was going on in life, whether I was making people happy or sad. I used alcohol to escape. I was purely existing.

“The Doddie Aid cycle ride from Scotland to Rome changed everything. For the first time since retiring, I felt part of a team again. I came back and told my dad, ‘I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life’.”

After leaving Exeter in 2023, Hogg moved to Montpellier in the Top 14. Hogg shares four children with Gillian and another with racing commentator Leonna Mayor.

“The real downside is being away from my kids and getting the chance to go back and see them regularly,” Hogg said. “The hope is that they’ll be able to come out to France and see me.

“Things are improving on that front, which I’m grateful for, so things are definitely improving for me and my family. I live 20 minutes from Montpellier, five minutes from the beach. It’s relaxing.

“The players and coaches value me, maybe because I finally value myself. I’m in a better place mentally than I’ve been in years. I used to think being selfish was strength.

“But I took that too far. I hurt people. Now, I’m learning to be selfless for the right reasons – for my kids, my partner, my team. I know I’ll never be the same Stuart Hogg I once was, but I’m OK with it. I’ve found peace.”