Former Gogglebox star Kate Bottley on the joy of playing rugby in Retford

Former Gogglebox star and vicar Kate Bottley has spoken about taking up rugby to "forget up the troubles" of life.

Rev Bottley, from Sheffield, was a regular on the popular Channel 4 show on Friday nights, offering her opinions on the latest TV shows.

Eight years on, she still makes frequent media appearances and hosts her own show on Radio 2.

But she has now spoken about her passion for rugby union.

She trains every week in Retford at the Inner Warrior Camp, a scheme devised by the Rugby Football Union to encourage more women and girls to play the sport ahead on the World Cup here in England next year.

"I don't think I'm a sporty person at all but somehow there's a place for everyone on that rugby field and that's one of the things I really love about the game." she said.

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Kate took up the game as a teenager, but admits she is "rather hopeless". But she said the game was for all ability levels.

She said: "[The women] come here thinking they are going to get a bit muddy and chuck a ball about but there is something else going on, which is on a Thursday it helps you forget a little bit about the troubles you've had during the week but it also helps you work through some hard stuff as well, so it is an important place to be."

Tim Westwood, of the RFU, said: "It is just a great way to get involved and to meet people and all the social side of it, if you ask any of the ladies here today what they enjoy most it would be the social friendship."

And according the the Rev Kate, the hardest bit about the training sessions is not the bumps and bruises but "getting your boots on and getting out of the house".

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