After one season as captain of the Warriors, the region was disbanded by the then-WRU chief David Moffett, and owner Leighton Samuel, although Thomas had already agreed a deal to join French club Toulouse where he was seen as the ideal replacement for soon-to-retire captain Émile Ntamack.
[9] He scored a Welsh record-equalling four tries in the match against Italy in Treviso in 1999; one of only seven players to achieve that feat for Wales.
Equally at home at centre, it was from that position he scored the longest interception try ever seen at the Arms Park, a 90-metre dash against Australia in 1996.
In 2005 Thomas was found guilty of assault while playing rugby in France[11] and in 2007 was banned for four weeks for misconduct charges.
[6] He made his Crusaders' (and rugby league) début against French side Catalans Dragons on 19 March 2010.
Thomas was concussed seconds into his rugby league début after a heavy challenge from Catalans player David Ferriol, and as a result had to leave the field after thirty minutes.
[17] In a warm-up test before the European Cup, he made a try-scoring international rugby league début in Wales 13–6 defeat by Italy in October 2010.
He scored a try in that game, helping Wales to a one-point win for both the European Cup Trophy and a spot in the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations.
[19] On 9 July 2011, Thomas confirmed on Twitter that he had broken his left arm during the 38–10 defeat by Hull Kingston Rovers, and expected to be sidelined for two months.
[20] After missing the rest of the season and failing to reach 100% fitness before the 2011 Rugby League Four Nations tournament, on 25 October 2011 Thomas announced his immediate retirement.
[24] Thomas's public confirmation of his sexuality made him the first openly gay professional rugby union player.
[30][31][32][33] In an interview, Thomas commented, "I don't know if my life is going to be easier because I'm out, but if it helps someone else, if it makes one young lad pick up the phone to ChildLine, then it will have been worth it".
[46] On the following day he competed in the Ironman Wales event in Tenby, finishing 413th out of 2,039, having vowed to "break the stigma" around the illness.
[47] After feeling media pressure to do so[27] and for National HIV Testing Week,[46] Thomas also filmed a documentary with Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and the Terrence Higgins Trust,[46] which aired a few days later on 18 September.
[27] Publicising the documentary that morning, he told an interviewer for BBC Radio 5 Live that a journalist had revealed his HIV status to his parents before he had had the opportunity to do so himself.
[27] While Thomas declined to name the journalist or the paper they write for, he did say "everybody will know, especially of late",[27] leading the Press Gazette to suggest it could be The Sun,[27] given they had been criticised the previous day for reporting about the family of England cricketer Ben Stokes.
[48][49] Thomas was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to sport and health.
[54] In March 2012, on the RTÉ programme Craig Doyle Live, Thomas announced that Tom Hardy was in talks to play him in the film.
In January 2012, Thomas was a housemate in the ninth series of Celebrity Big Brother, and finished third overall on the final night.
Thomas is also one of 8 celebrities chosen to participate in an intense week learning Welsh in an eco-friendly chic campsite in Pembrokeshire in the series cariad@iaith:love4language shown on S4C in May 2012.