A PROFESSIONAL rugby player who was diagnosed with HIV will complete the Three Peaks Challenge with several celebrities.

Former Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas and celebrities including Shane Williams MBE, television presenter and former model Melinda Messenger and It’s a Sin actor Nathanial Hall will take on the Three Peaks Challenge in June.

In late 2019, Gareth Thomas announced he was HIV positive while competing in a 140-mile Ironman triathlon.

More than three years later, Gareth will lead a team from his Tackle HIV campaign to undertake a Three Peaks Challenge, raising awareness and understanding about HIV and challenge the stigma that still exists.

Tackle HIV is led by Gareth in partnership with ViiV Healthcare and Terrence Higgins Trust, the charity's partner.

Gareth will be joined on the Three Peaks by well-known celebrity supporters as well as Tackle HIV advocates, some of whom are living with HIV.

The team will walk the highest mountains in Wales, England, and Scotland to demonstrate living with HIV should not have to be a barrier to success and celebrate how far science and medicine have come in the last few decades.

To complete Snowdon in Wales, Gareth will be joined by Shane Williams MBE, former rugby international and record try scorer for Wales.

Shane was with Gareth for the Ironman in 2019 and featured in the documentary HIV and Me, where Gareth first talks about living with HIV. Shane and Gareth will tackle Snowdon together in 2023.

While completing Scafell Pike in England, Gareth will be joined by Nathanial Hall. Nathaniel is a writer, producer, performer, and HIV activist, probably best known for playing Donald Bassett in Channel’s 4’s award-winning series It’s a Sin, depicting the lives of a group of gay men during the HIV and AIDS crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

To conquer Ben Nevis in Scotland, Gareth will be joined by television presenter and former model Melinda Messenger.

Melinda is now a trained psychotherapist and has experience and an understanding of the impact of stigma in various forms. Melinda is an active supporter of Gareth and the Tackle HIV campaign.