By John Jones

Copyright walesonline

Wales football legend Gareth Bale has opened up on his new life in retirement after hanging up his boots at the age of 33. The Cardiff-born star brought the curtain down on a remarkable career in the wake of the 2022 World Cup, retiring as his country’s most-capped player with 111 appearances, as well as their all-time record goalscorer, having scored 41 times in the famous red shirt. He also led Wales to three major tournaments, with the campaign in Qatar their first World Cup for 64 years. At club level, Bale began his career at Southampton before achieving stardom at Tottenham Hotspur and sealing a then-world record £85million move to Real Madrid. It was there that he won five Champions Leagues and three La Liga titles, helping him to end his career as one of the most highly-decorated players of the modern era, as he saw out his playing days in MLS with Los Angeles FC. Less than three years on from calling time on his career, Bale admits that his everyday life now looks quite different indeed. Talking to WalesOnline at the Gareth Bale Festival of Sport at the Celtic Manor , the former winger revealed all about how he’s spending his time in retirement – here’s what he had to say. Since hanging up his boots, Bale has made the most of his newfound spare time, spending as much of it as possible with his family. He married his childhood sweetheart Emma Rhys-Jones in 2019, having already welcomed three children – Alba, Nava and Axel – before a fourth, Xander, was born in 2021. With the demands of professional football meaning that Bale often ended up missing out on spending time with his children as they grew up, he has been keen to make up for lost time, creating special memories with them, including trips to Abu Dhabi, Lapland and the United States. However, in an admission that most parents can relate to, the Wales legend says that his kids keep him “very busy” with “a lot of taxi driving” on the agenda now he is spending the bulk of his time with them. “I’m just doing a bit of everything, having a normal life really,” he told WalesOnline. “I’m with the family quite a lot, spending time with my wife, playing some golf. I’m doing the normal things and not having too much to do, but enough to keep me busy. “I knew football wasn’t going to last forever. I’m just spending time with my family, enjoying that time. I’m keeping involved in football by doing some stuff on the TV, but my kids keep me very busy. It’s great to now have that time to spend with them and not be away every weekend and missing a lot of them growing up, so yeah, just being able to go out and be a dad finally. “I’m still relatively new into retirement so I’m still enjoying that phase of relaxing a bit and enjoying being around my family a bit more rather than being away every week. I’m enjoying watching my kids grow up as I feel I missed a lot when I was playing, so it’s great to be able to spend time with them.” “I’m spending time a bit of everywhere, to be honest,” he added. “The kids are in school , so can’t go to too many places. But yeah, a bit of here, there and everywhere really, seeing friends, family and enjoying that time relaxing.” With his children aged between four and 12, Bale says that they are starting to try their hand at sport, including football. However, given his standing as arguably Wales – if not Britain’s – greatest ever footballer, he doesn’t want them to feel any pressure over potentially following in his footsteps. “They’re all trying and doing as much as they would like to do,” he said. “I’ve got too many kids so there’s a lot of taxi driving! But it’s about encouraging them and I just want them to enjoy it for what it is. I don’t care if they become anything, I want them to enjoy the sport as a kid, playing with their friends and getting real fun from it. My son is getting into [football] more. “They’re so young. I just want them to enjoy playing football. I don’t want them to have any pressure on them because of their surname. I just want my kids to have fun and enjoy football for what it is, like I did when I was younger. Obviously I was lucky enough to then make a career out of it, but I just want them to have fun playing with their friends.” While it is nearly three years since Bale walked away from football, he is still in remarkable shape, with his impressive physique not taking much of a hit even in retirement. He has since shown off his toned torso and six back in Instagram posts of his beach trips in Abu Dhabi, while his fitness was on display again as he returned to football earlier this month for a charity match in South Korea. Bale lined up at the unfamiliar position of centre-back for FC Spear in the Nexon Icons Match in Seoul, with the event pitting a team of some of the game’s greatest ever attackers against legendary defenders. While it was the first time he had laced up his boots since retiring, the Welshman still looked sharp and lean as rolled back the years with some surging runs and powerful shots at goal. The man himself wasn’t overly convinced by how he performed, however. “It was the first time I’d kicked a ball since I’d retired,” he said. “It was a bit of a struggle, I’m not going to lie. It was nice to get my boots back on and we had a laugh, we had a good time with all the players over there. But I’m still recovering from the jet lag! “My performance wasn’t that good, but it was nice to go there, I hadn’t been over to South Korea before. It was great to see the fans that supported me over there and connect with them a bit, so it was a great experience.” On how he has managed to keep in such fine shape in retirement, Bale added: “Walking the golf course always helps when it comes to getting your 10,000 steps in. I do a little bit of gym here and there and I’ve been staying away from fatty foods – but I’m quite lucky in terms of my genes!” Last month, it was confirmed that Bale had landed a new job as a pundit for TNT Sports for the 2025/26 season, with the Welshman offering his services to the broadcaster’s Premier League and Champions League coverage. It came after he was understood to have impressed TNT bosses with his analysis of Spurs’ Europa League final win against United in May , with his appointment following the departure of Rio Ferdinand. The Manchester United legend left the channel after 12 years having opted not to sign a new contract at the end of last season. . Bale has since played down the new role, suggesting he is only going to work on “a couple of games”, but admits he is enjoying being back in football again after spending a few years away. “It’s obviously completely different, but it’s nice to keep involved with football,” he said. “I always said that after football I wanted to take a little bit of time away and I think I’m starting to enjoy it a bit more again. “Being a bit more involved in football is great, I’m starting to enjoy it more, watching it. It’s been good to dip my toes into that and see how that side of things works. It’s been interesting, so let’s see what happens in the future. “I’m just doing a couple of games like I did last year, I think everyone got a bit carried away with what I was doing! I think the news was a little bit misconstrued but it will be fun to watch a couple of games and do some punditry. I’m looking forward to it,” he added. “It’s been interesting. I lived it as a player, so it’s been nice to provide a different side rather than just the performance, and give my thoughts on my experiences through that moment. It’s been fun and interesting to see the other side of it.” While he is no longer banking huge salaries as a footballer, Bale’s net worth today is believed to still be in the region of a staggering £120 million. The former Real Madrid star earned an eye-watering £600,000 a week during his time in Spain, but he has also added to his vast personal fortune over the years with a series of smart business moves. He opened his bar ‘Elevens’ in Cardiff in 2017, before building on that success by combining his next bar venture with his love of golf and opening ‘Par 59’ on the city’s bustling St Mary Street five years later. He then opened a second venue in Bristol. While he is teetotal, Bale has also made a “significant investment” in Penderyn Distillery, making him a minority shareholder in the company. He has also invested in Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TGL golf league, while he has had high-profile endorsement deals with the likes of Adidas, PlayStation and BMW over the years. Gareth Bale was speaking at the Gareth Bale Festival of Sport, organised in partnership with StreetGames , Wales Golf and CAA Sports – with support from the R&A – and held at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport.