He's been a familiar face for the past three decades, now former pro-footballer, John Fashanu, is skating his way back into primetime TV by taking part in Dancing on Ice alongside popstar, Michelle Heaton, Love Island winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu and EastEnder, Patsy Palmer.
The London-born former Wimbledon and Millwall striker had a long career in football and TV presenting, but his experience of racism and his treatment of his brother, fellow footballer Justin Fashanu, has seen him talk about his regrets in recent years.
Justin, who bravely became the first professional footballer to come out, back in 1990, was shunned by John at the time and in 1998 the older Fashanu brother took his own life.
Read more: Dancing on Ice 2023: Start date, line-up and judges
Last year, ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, John spoke out about his treatment of his brother at the time and admitted to MirrorOnline that he once paid Justin £75,000 to keep quiet and save the family 'embarrassment'.
He also said: "If anyone was to blame for what happened it was me. I shunned my brother. If I was like that with him, what was everyone else like?” He revealed that his brother once buried him in sand on Brighton beach to show John what it was like to feel gay back in the 1980s.
John said: “He started piling on sand until only my head was poking out. It hurt. I was struggling to breathe. Then he just left me there. When he finally came back I was in tears. He said, ‘Now you know what it feels like to be me every single day.’
“He said it was like always being squeezed. And for the first time I understood what it meant to be both black and gay at that time." Ahead of the World Cup in Qatar, John urged current squads to take the knee as a form of protest against homophobia as well as racism.
In his early career John was forced to clean the toilets at his Norwich City ground as an apprentice and received racist abuse from Millwall fans while playing for Lincoln City. That was before he was transferred to Millwall.
Fashanu told MirrorOnline once more: “On the first day in the changing room no one would shake my hand. All I could feel was hostility. The only person to greet me was manager George Graham. Great man. The first match was hell. The Millwall crowd hated me. Training was not much better. All the players were against me.
“When I wasn’t touching the ball one of the players used the N-word. So I threw a punch and he threw one back. Then all the players pitched in and started beating me up. Back in the changing room my clothes were cut up.”
The London-born former Wimbledon striker became known for his footballing career through the 1980s as part of 'the Crazy Gang' but in the 1990s he became better known as the frontman for ITV weekend show Gladiators, alongside Ulrika Jonsson, which ran from 1992 to 2000.
Fashanu, 60, went on to come second in the 2003 series of I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! John's daughter, Amal, has launched the Justin Fashanu Foundation which he says helped him see the error of his ways and helps professional footballers coming out and campaigns to end homophobia. He told GB News last November:
“I think that Amal was paramount in actually making me see the light and making the changes. Because I assure you, I was an idiot.
“I honestly wouldn’t say I was homophobic. I didn’t understand. That’s the key word. Yeah, not understanding. But that’s now 30 years ago.”
READ NEXT:
