England rugby hero Ben Cohen has revealed he sold his World Cup winner’s medal to help him survive the Covid-19 pandemic.
Cohen, who played a key role in England’s victory over Australia in 2003, has previously spoken about his struggle to adjust to life after rugby.
The 46-year-old called time on his career in 2011 and has since taken part in Strictly Come Dancing where he met his partner Kristina Rihanoff.
Cohen has also appeared on reality shows The Jump, The Celebrity Chase and The Real Full Monty, however, the handful of television appearances has not been enough to fill the void left by rugby.
The former wing, who won 57 England caps, recently lifted the lid on his financial woes sparked by what he described as lack of skill set and life skills due to his devotion to rugby.
He likened quitting rugby to leaving the services, claiming his World Cup triumph ‘doesn’t really bring me anything’ and he would have rather had a 9-5 job and a career.
Cohen let slip the revelation about his medal live on talkSPORT where former teammate Phil Vickery, sat beside him in the studio, fought back tears.
Fans were quick to flood in with calls and texts in support of Cohen, with one in particular causing the World Cup winner to make the startling admission.
Host Jim White read out a caller’s message that said: “A degree for you would be nice, sure, but that’s nothing to what you gave us that day. Please don’t ever underestimate that, Ben. You gave us that day, and you still give us it.”
White then told Cohen: “So he’s saying, Ben, you might swap your Rugby World Cup winner’s medal for a degree, but we don’t want you to, because of what you gave them.”
Vickery added: “And I don’t want him to either.”
But to Vickery’s dismay, Cohen went on to reveal he had in fact sold his World Cup winner’s medal.
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Cohen, nephew of 1966 football World Cup winner George, told talkSPORT: “I sold my World Cup medal to survive Covid. I had to survive.”
White asked Vickery if he knew of Cohen’s decision to which he replied, “No, I didn’t know that.”
Cohen explained: “I had to survive, I had nothing in Covid. It doesn’t give you a living. Winning a World Cup medal is great, and it’s a great legacy to leave for your kids and a story, and we can talk about it. It’s great that it gives other people that uplift, you know, that moment.
“The reality is, I’ve got no work. Where is my work?
“So me now is about paying it forward. You know, how do I help my mates out? After that 20th anniversary, how do I help my mates out? How do I pay it forward?
“At least I had something to sell,” Cohen continued. “A lot of people were put in a position where they couldn’t make ends meet.
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“It affected so many people You shut down the world and the bills carry on, the policies carry on and they continue to get interest.
“Where do you turn to? The Government wasn’t there to help.
“Your mortgage carries on, your second mortgage carries on, then they’re going to come after your house.
“That for me has been horrendous to try and pay that off. I came close to losing my house, I paid a fortune over and above what my initial policy was. But I wouldn’t be the only one in it.”
A distraught Vickery, cleared his throat before commenting on Cohen’s failure to talk to him about his issues.
Vickery added: “This is a classic example of blokes, not necessarily in a team environment, not showing weakness.”
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Cohen and other members of England’s victorious World Cup squad have come together to launch a charity titled Champions 2003, aimed at helping sportspeople prepare life after retirement form competitive sport.
Discussing the charity’s objective, Cohen said: “It’s to highlight some of our struggles, to leave a legacy on the back end of sport in general and to give sports people, men and women, a place to land to give them the coping skills and help to transition into civvy street.”
In 2003 in front of more than 80,000 fans in Sydney and millions more at home, England shocked Australia on their home turf. It was England’s first rugby World Cup triumph and was done in dramatic circumstances as Jonny Wilkinson’s dropped goal in extra-time earned a 20-17 win.