Gareth Bale turns up at Welsh chip shop for dinner and ends up in owner's home

Welsh football legend Gareth Bale, recently retired in January 2023 after his last appearance at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. Despite hanging up his boots, he's been active, participating in golf tournaments and enjoying family time, with a home still in LA.

However, Bale has been spending time back in Wales, where he owns a significant property in the Vale of Glamorgan. And In a surprising turn of events that shows he hasn't lost touch with his roots, the former Real Madrid star dropped by Big Sam's chip shop in Pontyclun for a bite to eat with friends.

The chip shop shared an endearing photo on social media of Bale with Raj Aulakh, a member of Big Sam's family and an avid football fan.

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The post was captioned: "A Welsh institution visits another Welsh institution! Today at Big Sam's we had the absolute pleasure of serving this lovely gent."

It continued: "Not only was Gareth Bale kind enough to take pictures with some of us in the shop, but he also came into the flat to take a picture with Raj. He couldn't have been a lovelier bloke and we hope to see him again soon #cymruambyth", reports Wales Online.

Raj Aulakh, 39, who lives with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, expressed his delight to WalesOnline, saying Bale showed genuine interest in meeting him.

Raj recounted the moment: "My mum came in to me and my sister and said 'Gareth Bale is in the shop! '," sharing the excitement of the unexpected visit.

"We were like - 'you're having a laugh'. Why would he be in Pontyclun of all places? My sister said 'it is actually him! It's either a very good lookalike, or it's actually him'."

"My brother went and had a picture with him. He went back in and said 'do you mind popping into ours? ' (the family property above Big Sam's, where Raj lives). He said 'yes, of course, no problem'. He was actually genuinely interested."

"He seemed really nice. It wasn't very long, it was a few minutes, if that, maybe a couple of minutes but he seemed friendly."

Raj explained his mother didn't even recognise the football superstar immediately, and served him as a regular customer.

The family said they would love him to visit the takeaway again, and have promised there would be less drama. Raj said: "It's not like we're gonna jump him every time he comes in! If he ever comes again, we feel really bad, we all acted a bit dramatic because we were so excited! ".

Big Sam's serves a variety of food, from fish and chips to kebabs, and has been open for 30 years.

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