Fans lauded former ruby star Ben Cohen for participating in a rugby jail rehabilitation programme despite his father’s terrible death in the new documentary Grand Slammers.
The 45-year-old was pictured with his former England colleagues – the team that won the World Cup in 2003 – conducting rugby training to inmates at HMP The Mount.
Ben, who appeared on Strictly Come Dancing in 2013, participated in the documentary alongside Martin Johnson, Mike Tindall, Lawrence Dallaglio, and Jonny Wilkinson to prepare a rookie inmates’ squad to face a team of correctional guards.
However, he said that he had hesitated over the offer, while ballerina fiancee Kristina Rihanoff – who he was teamed up with on Strictly – voiced her worry that his horrific memories might be ‘triggered’.
Ben’s father, Peter Cohen, died of a blood clot in 2000, a month after being beaten up while attempting to break up a disturbance in his nightclub.
His attackers were jailed for violent disorder and given sentences of three years, with Be revealing they served eighteen months.
Discussing the effect it had had on his life, Ben confirmed that he didn’t think their sentences were long enough, adding: ‘I hope it haunts them for the rest of their life, as it has me.’
‘All of this kind of stuff is going through my head and you can let it chew you up and spit it out,’ he continued.
‘But I know one thing my dad would want is me keep looking forward.’
Viewers of Grand Slammers were astounded to see the celebrity, who is also due to strip off on The Real Full Monty later this year, choose to participate in the programme despite his personal sorrow, and rushed to give him praise.
Such a difficult decision for Ben to go into the prison after what happened to his beloved dad. Credit where credit is due. #GrandSlammers
— Judith TaylorⓋ (@JudeTaylor25) September 27, 2023
Ben Cohen’s story 😢must have been so hard for him to be involved #GrandSlammers @itv
— Deb (@dmoly) September 27, 2023
I don’t think I could deal with the anger Ben Cohen’s story would cause me. #grandslammers
— Karl Cross (@topoftheprops) September 27, 2023
Ben needs to run a prison! They need more of this in prisons to achieve rehabilitation #grandslammers
— CarolineW007 (@W1966Caroline) September 27, 2023
Fair play to all the 2003 England Rugby team taking part in this, but especially Ben Cohen. Clearly not an easy one for him but he’s taking no shit. And fair play they all seem to have their total respect #Rugby #rugbyworldcup2023
#GrandSlammers— SarahS52 (@S52Sarah) September 27, 2023
‘Such a difficult decision for Ben to go into the prison after what happened to his beloved dad. Credit where credit is due,’ tweeted one fan.
‘Fair play to all the 2003 England Rugby team taking part in this, but especially Ben Cohen,’ added another.
‘Clearly not an easy one for him but he’s taking no sh*t. And fair play they all seem to have their total respect.’
‘How good is @RugbyBenCohen on Grand Slammers! Credit to you, Ben!’ pointed out someone else, while another wrote: ‘Ben Cohen having none of it training the prisoners, made his point loud and clear! And they listened to him.’
Another viewer observed that it ‘must have been so hard for him to be involved’ with the documentary.
‘I don’t think I could deal with the anger Ben Cohen’s story would cause me,’ admitted another viewer.
Viewers of Grand Slammers were astounded to see the celebrity, who is also due to strip off on The Real Full Monty later this year, choose to participate in the programme despite his personal sorrow, and rushed to give him praise.
He jokingly told her: ‘You can join the coaching staff if you’d like.’
Grand Slammers continues at 9pm on Thursday on ITV1.
