He was everything to me and I had no reason to believe he was still happily married. I was naive. His actions and behaviour have caused so much hurt to so many women..he is not the man he portrays himself to be

Rugby star had relationship while claiming to be separated

- JENNIFER HYLAND

AN EX-GIRLFRIEND of abusive rugby star Stuart Hogg says he led a double life for three years by pretending to be happily married while he was secretly seeing her.

Jilly O'Donnell said she found out he was still with his wife Gillian when the ex-Scotland international captain gave a TV interview to reveal they were expecting their fourth child.

Hogg, 32, was outed last week as a controlling and manipulative abuser after he pled guilty to a single charge of domestic abuse against his now estranged wife Gillian.

If the case had gone to trial, the ex-British and Irish Lions star would also have faced a charge of bombarding Jilly, 47, with hundreds of messages and a barrage of calls over 17 months despite her begging him to stop.

Jilly has decided to speak out about the torment she suffered at the hands of Hogg in the belief that other women have fallen victim to him.

And she revealed she's also tried to warn Hogg's current girlfriend, Leonna Mayor, about his behaviour.

Jilly, a student nurse from Newcastle, said: "His actions and behaviour have caused so much hurt and anger to so many women. He knows that but somehow, he will still end up being the victim." Jilly 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 of Hogg, who was 15 years younger than her.

Hogg, a full-back with Premiership side Exeter Chiefs at the time, told Jilly 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 for walks, go hiking across Dartmoor, message, call, FaceTime all the time.