A former Page 3 girl who claims she was Britain’s first WAG has been forced to pawn thousands of pounds worth of jewels after eventually racking up £500,000 in debt.
Suzi Walker, 52 – who was married to former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Ian Walker, 51, and partnered ex-Crystal Palace boss Simon Jordan, 55 – suffered from a chronic health condition and faced an expensive court case that left her sell her treasures.
That told the model, who is now married to businessman Mark Pitman The sun on Sunday: “I pawned and sold everything I could to keep going. Last year it was the engagement ring Mark gave me that broke my heart, and some diamond earrings and a ring he gave me.
“And I also pawned a diamond tennis bracelet worth thousands that Simon gave me.”
She said she accepted cash offers that were much less than the actual value of the items.
Trouble: Ex Page 3 girl Suzi Walker, 52, who claims she was Britain’s first WAG, has been forced to pawn thousands of pounds worth of jewelery after running up a £500,000 debt (pictured in 2003)
Looking back: Suzi was married to former Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper and England player Ian Walker, 51, from 1994 to 2007 (pictured in 1999)
Suzi – who inspired the character Chardonnay in the 1990s ITV drama Fooballers’ Wives – claims people expect her to be well off because of who she’s been in a relationship with before, but she wanted to be independent and insisted that she never married anyone for money.
She left soccer player Ian in 2007 after he slept with a lap dancer in Las Vegas.
Suzi said she was told last week that her £950,000 house was being repossessed because she owed a debt of £20,000.
She and her current husband Mark paid £600,000 in legal fees two years ago when he tried to recover millions he said a company owed him in work fees.
They won the case in 2021 according to Suzi, but still have not received their money.
Suzi also spent £60,000 on healthcare after discovering she was suffering from a chronic illness that had gone undiagnosed for years.
She said she couldn’t get appointments locally so she had to ask for help privately.
“I knew I was dying, but I couldn’t get a diagnosis from my local hospital. I paid to get private tests,” she explained.
Woes: The model told The Sun on Sunday, “I pawned and sold everything I could to keep going. Last year it was the engagement ring Mark gave me that broke my heart’ (pictured in 2003)
Her face swelled up and she had bruises all over her body before being diagnosed with ME, which she believed was incorrect.
She was told she had mental health issues, with even her husband Mark believing her issues weren’t physical at one point.
But she was later diagnosed with a rare form of Lyme disease called babesiosis after years of ill health.
The disease has resulted in Suzi developing meningitis, encephalitis and discharge behind her eyes.
Suzi said she had built up debt over the course of a year from unpaid mortgage payments to her lender, but after receiving letters from her GP saying she was too ill to work, she was given more time to get the money together. to get.
In the 90s and 00s, Suzi was friends with fellow WAGs Coleen Rooney, Alex Gerrard and Victoria Beckham.
She described her life like a ‘WAG fairytale’, enjoying the ‘best of everything’ as she watches her husband compete with England in Euro 96.
Suzi said she and her friends would buy luxury Gucci and Prada products and insist on drinking expensive Cristal champagne.
She recalled buying diamond-encrusted Cartier watches, which were worth “thousands upon thousands of pounds.”
Suzi and Ian got engaged in 1994 and together they had daughter Sophie, now 24.
Inspiration: The character of Chardonnay from the 1990s ITV drama Footballers’ Wives is rumored to have been based on Suzi (actress Susie Amy seen as Chardonnay with actor Gary Lucy as character Kyle Pascoe in 2003)
However, she insists they weren’t always wealthy, and Suzi bought her engagement ring for Ian from Allders department store for £20.
Life changed when Ian joined the England squad, allowing Suzi to get blow-drieds, fake tans and multiple boob jobs every week.
She said they always traveled first class and she even had a personal shopper in Selfridges.
When their divorce was finalized in 2008, Suzi was given approximately £800,000 which she spent on a house and school fees for her daughter.
Relationship: Suzi and Ian got engaged in 1994 and they had daughter Sophie, now 24, together (pictured in 1995)