John Barrowman's life now since 'flashing' scandal - SAS fiasco, marriage and struggles

John Barrowman, 55, has made a blink and you'll miss it appearance on the latest series of Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. We take a look at the star's life today

John Barrowman was once one of our brightest TV stars.

From his impressive acting performances in BBC's Doctor Who and spin-off Torchwood to his warm hearted judging of ITV's Dancing On Ice, the versatile performer was frequently seen on our screens.

But it all went wrong for the Scottish-American star, who was forced to apologise in May 2021 when allegations emerged he had flashed cast members on the sets of both of his BBC TV shows.

Describing his behaviour as 'tomfoolery' he would not repeat, the 55-year-old slammed critics who said it was 'sexual harassment'. No charges were brought against him but a public backlash meant he lost his job as a judge on Dancing On Ice and was forced to cancel an upcoming UK tour.

With John hitting the headlines for the briefest of appearances on tough reality show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins this week, we take a look at his life today...

SAS

John's stint on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins was brief to say the least. The star was quickly branded the worst recruit the Channel 4 show had ever seen when he quit after just 32 minutes after he arrived at base camp in New Zealand but he later said leaving was the 'best decision I had ever made'.

Viewers saw John come second last in a challenge which saw the recruit walking on ropes over a high gorge before he exited the show. He was also seen vomiting into a bowl and later told The Sun his sickness was a result of being 'made' to eat 'vile tofu' after being offered no other food.

Disappointed chief instructor Mark 'Billy' Billingham said: "I was absolutely disgusted, to be honest. You have a chance here to do so many great things and you just can't be bothered - he didn't even get past day one."

Rudy Reyes, formerly a special forces soldier in the US, was in full agreement, adding: "Selection is designed to push you to the limit to see how deep you really are. Disappointingly he didn't push himself to any limit and just wasted our time."

John said he had signed up for the show because it was known to help people overcome their demons. He insisted he had simply overcame his in record time, telling ITV Lorraine: "The show did what it was meant to do".

Marriage

While John's career has been on shaky territory, his love life has been rock steady. John is married to talented architect Scott Gill, who reportedly designed their gorgeous home on the Welsh coast.

The couple met when Scott saw John perform in Rope at Chichester Festival Theatre and the star said he knew straight away Scott was the man 'he wanted to spend the rest of his life with'.

The besotted pair had a civil service ceremony in Cardiff in December 2006 before making history in 2013 as one of the first same-sex couples to marry in California, one day after the state overturned the ban on gay weddings.

"We were in a situation once where we were coming back into the US and being a family in the UK, we were in the line coming through customs and they said: 'Who is this?'," John told Loose Women. "I said: 'This is my partner', because we didn't say husband at that time, and he said: 'We don't recognise that here in this country, get out of the line and get over there'.

"So I said to Scott: 'When this passes, we are going to go, however, we are, go to the registry office and get married, and we did – we woke up in the morning, we got out of bed, put on shorts and a t-shirt, drove down to the registry office, and there's a video of us driving there singing."

John and Scott have previously spoken about adopting kids but for now the couple share their home with dogs Charlie, Harris and Captain Jack.

Career

John's career famously fell apart when it was alleged he had exposed himself on the set of the BBC One sci-fi series Doctor Who and its sister show Torchwood. He denied these claims and no charges were brought against him but he was forced to cancel his 2023 UK tour.

The star briefly deleted his Twitter account when he was slammed for accusing his Torchwood co-star Eve Myles of 'spewing rhetoric' and he was dropped as a judge on ITV family show Dancing On Ice. He went onto describe the past few years as the hardest of his life.

John's Celebrity SAS appearance didn't exactly go down a storm so he will be hoping for more success on his tour of the UK billed as "an intimate look at John's life and career in song". This will kick off in Basildon on October 11.

"From the theatre to television, from the TARDIS to Torchwood, Anything Goes to Arrow and the UK to the USA, I'll share tales straight from the horses mouth," said the star, who makes regular Comic Con appearances too. "Stories and the gossip all happening around my heartfelt renditions of some of your favourite songs from my albums."