Stuart Hogg's TV presenter girlfriend launches an attack on his wife

Stuart Hogg's TV presenter girlfriend has said she will stand by him despite his domestic abuse conviction and has launched an extraordinary attack on the victim - his estranged wife Gillian.

Scotland's disgraced former rugby captain, 32, admitted he sent 200 abusive messages to the mother of his four children in just two hours as part of a five-year campaign of domestic abuse. 

But Leonna Mayor, 34, who is pregnant with his fifth child, has taken aim at Hogg's estranged wife Gillian and the allegations made against him.

Ms Mayor, a jockey turned broadcaster and pundit, has been accused of victim blaming and when asked about standing by the convicted domestic abuser she replied: 'I’m not worried about it'.

And taking aim at Gillian Hogg, who has not commented on the case or its conclusion, Leonna has been criticised after she sought to cast doubt on the allegations in a now deleted tweet.

One critic, apparently a friend of Mrs Hogg, responded to her tweets yesterday, declaring: 'My friend is the strongest person I know, the best mother I know and the most caring and loving person I know'.

'The first step on the road of recovery is to seek help. He’s all yours', the woman told Ms Mayor. Another critic told Leonna: 'This is embarrassing for you. Victim blaming.... It's enough. Put your phone down'.

Hogg, who was capped 100 times for Scotland, and his wife are now divorcing. He repeatedly abused Gillian, shouting and swearing at her as well as tracking her movements and bombarding her with texts, the court heard.

He would also berate her for 'not being fun' when she stayed behind to look after their children while he went out drinking with friends.

But his current partner Leonna, who covers horse racing on TV for Sky Sports Racing, ITV and William Hill, has taken to Twitter to launch an extraordinary defence of Hogg - and took aim at Gillian Hogg, her friends and her partner's critics.

'No where near the full story here as there never is. I’m not worried about it', she tweeted after the news of his guilty plea to domestic abuse at Selkirk Sheriff Court emerged.

In another she wrote: 'Only her account. As she is the "victim". Nothing from his side has been published yet'.

She also claimed that the press coverage of yesterday's hearing contained lies and inaccuracies.

'I’m sick of the judging comments from people who know a very small percentage of the actual facts', she said.

A woman claiming to be a friend of Gillian Hogg tweeted Leonna after the guilty plea and said: 'All this made up nonsense @LeonnaMayor eh! Where are you now???'.

She replied: 'Lots of facts missing from this article as there always is.

'Well as Gill's friend I’m sure you've heard and seen both sides have you? I made him get help for his behaviours'.

Stuart Hogg will be sentenced on December 5 after his guilty plea. Leaving court, the shamed star refused to apologise to his victim – declining to answer questions.

His relationship with Leonna, once nicknamed 'world's sexiest jockey', became public last year after they were spotted together at a spa days after Gillian Hogg gave birth to their fourth child.

Leonna has said that Stuart and Gillian split long before that.

She herself is now pregnant with Mr Hogg's fifth child, announcing it shortly after his trial date was announced in a post on social media.

On Monday, the day he was due to stand trial for domestic abuse, the 32-year-old appeared at Selkirk Sheriff Court, accompanied by his parents Margaret and John, and pleaded guilty to a single charge of domestic abuse from 2019 to 2024. 

The player repeatedly abused the mother of his four children, shouting and swearing at Gillian Hogg as well as tracking her movements and bombarding her with texts.

During the years of abuse inflicted on Mrs Hogg, he caused her to suffer a panic attack, berated her for 'not being fun' and sent her 'aggressive and hostile' messages.

The court heard there were instances in which he would send her more than 200 messages in the space of a few hours, sometimes attracting the attention of those she was with.

Prosecutor Drew Long said Mrs Hogg became 'scared' of her husband 'due to his behaviour when drinking'.

He added: 'She described him as angry and controlling and said when he was drinking she would 'wish it to be morning as quickly as possible so he would sober up and things would stop'.'

The court heard that when the Glasgow Warriors full-back joined Exeter Chiefs in Devon in 2019, his behaviour 'deteriorated' as he went out partying with colleagues.

Mr Long said: 'He would regularly shout and swear at her, using particularly offensive language and criticising her for not being fun.

'This would be in response to her wanting to look after her children rather than coming to drink with him and his friends.'

When the couple moved back to Hawick, Roxburghshire, in May 2023, Hogg began going out drinking more regularly.

In August that year it became obvious he had used an app to track where she was after he 'questioned the whereabouts' when she was dropping off the children.

Soon afterwards, she and the children moved in with her parents. Mr Long said: 'She took advice from a domestic abuse advisory service and no longer felt safe in her home.'

Despite the break-up, she was still inundated with calls and texts.

In his text bombardments, Hogg would switch between 'loving and being aggressive and hostile'.

Mr Long said: 'Mr Hogg sent his wife a series of messages which were aggressive in tone and led her to having a panic attack.

'Since the break-up there were days when Mr Hogg sent in excess of 200 text messages over a period of a few hours, despite having been asked to leave Mrs Hogg alone.'

In February this year Hogg entered the family home, the court was told, and swore at his wife in front of his children while being 'belligerent about his right to be at the property'. 

Mr Long added: 'In response Mrs Hogg and the children hid in one of the children's bedrooms.'

Hogg was later arrested and told not to contact his wife, but did so again. Angela Gray, KC, defending, said the incidents taken in isolation would have been 'unlikely' to have breached the threshold needed to reach the criminal court.

But she said: 'Mr Hogg accepts these incidents in isolation fell short of what's expected as a husband.'

The domestic abuse charge Hogg admitted said he repeatedly shouted, swore and acted in an aggressive manner, tracked her movements, sent her messages of an alarming and distressing nature, and made contact with her and approached her when banned from doing so.

After his guilty plea, Sheriff Peter Paterson told Hogg to return to court on December 5 for sentencing.

Hogg, who was capped 100 times for Scotland, and his wife are now divorcing.

The former Scotland captain, who toured with the British and Irish Lions three times, shocked rugby fans when he unexpectedly retired last summer.

He went on to be made an MBE in the 2024 New Year Honours list for services to the sport.

He later returned to the game with French side Montpellier. 

Charlotte Woodward, of the National Centre for Domestic Violence, said: 'Sportsmen are in a position of influence and there must be a clear message from employers that this behaviour has consequences.

'In many other professions, offenders would face disciplinary action and sport should be no different.'

A Montpellier spokesman said: 'The club will not comment at this time.'