Former England star Joe Marler has revealed his regret over some of his behaviour during his career after stating that he ‘bullied’ team-mates.
The ex-Harlequins prop earned 95 caps for his country but retired from the game in 2024 and is now starring in the UK version of the reality TV show, Celebrity Traitors.
Marler recently appeared on the Great Company podcast hosted by Jamie Laing where he opened up about his life and career.
Marler’s honesty
Laing asked the 35-year-old: “Do you think you were a bit of a bully sometimes?” to which the former loosehead replied: “Oh yeah, definitely.”
He added: “In that environment, it’s almost encouraged. You have to be that alpha, it’s the toxic masculinity often described as poisonous.
“I could either use my powers for good or evil, and more often than not I’d lean to the evil side.
“I look back at that and go, f***, the amount of people I’ve made uncomfortable – I don’t want to do that now, I don’t want to be like that now.”
As well as being an outstanding player, Marler was also renowned for some of his antics, both on and off the field, but he sometimes took it too far which got him into trouble.
In 2016, he was suspended for calling Wales forward Samson Lee “Gypsy boy” and in 2022 was banned for six weeks after using insulting language in an incident with Bristol Bears flanker Jake Heenan.
Marler’s biggest suspension came in 2020, however, when he was slapped with a 10-week punishment for fondling the testicles of record Test cap holder Alun Wyn Jones.
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Marler apologises
He apologised for both the Lee and Heenan incidents, and admitted that he was “wrong” for what he did to Jones during their Six Nations clash five years ago.
Marler also revealed that he has looked to reconcile with former team-mates.
“I’ve apologised to them. Whether it’s been well received or not, the damage was already done with a lot of team-mates like that,” he said.
“That’s sort of why I retired. I’d spent the last two years of my career at Harlequins. A lot of my group had sort of retired and moved on, and I’d always been close to them.
“I hadn’t really made any effort at making new friends or engaging with the younger team-mates.
“I was an outsider through my own fault. I’d been horrible to a number of the team-mates, so they weren’t going to make an effort and it was like, ‘f***, I need to get out of here’.
“It’s not fair on me and my body and all that lot from that point of view, as well as my family, to flog a dead horse, but it’s also not the best thing for the group. It’s their group, it’s their club and I’m sort of this bad smell in the corner that at any moment could just say something.
“Even the coaches were like, ‘f*****g hell’.”