English rugby player and entrepreneur Ben Cohen was BOTD in 1978. He began playing rugby in his teens, joining the English national men’s team in 2000. He played in all England matches during 2002-3, becoming a top try scorer, and was a member of the successful 2003 World Cup campaign. Following his retirement from professional support, he established the Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation in 2011, a charity focusing on prevention of homophobia and bullying in sport. Cohen dedicated the foundation to his father, who died of injuries sustained while trying to protect an assault victim. He became wildly popular with gay male audiences after releasing an series of calendars, featuring himself in a series of well-oiled but barely clothed beefcake poses, sold to raise funds for his foundation. He later posed for the covers of Attitude and other gay magazines, and auctioned one of his jockstraps at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern in London to an hysterical gay crowd. In press interviews, he expressed surprise at his gay following, conveniently forgetting to mention his conscious efforts to market himself to the lucrative ‘pink pound’. Hailed by gay rights groups as an LGBTQ ally, and still a popular target of shower-nozzle masturbation fantasies for many gay men, his involvement with the LGBTQ community to date has been performative and largely self-serving. Cohen married Abby Blayney in 2003, with whom he twin daughters. In 2013, he appeared on TV dance competition Strictly Come Dancing, paired with Russian dancer Kristina Rihanoff, with whom he had a well-publicised affair. He eventually left Blayney for Rihanoff, triggering a further tabloid media furore and some tarnishing of his saintly public profile. His involvement in gay rights work was dialled down rapidly, as he and Rihanoff had a daughter together, announcing their engagement in 2016 and opening a yoga studio. In 2025, Cohen and Rihanoff announced their separation, following years of financial problems due to business interests failing during the COVID-19 pandemic.