Born and raised in East London, the youngest of 12 children crammed into a terraced house, Sol Campbell went on to become one of English football’s greatest centre-backs.
But I can reveal that he’s just had a bitter lesson that even in retirement it’s possible to become a victim of cheating – which on this occasion, he says, left him with a staggering £1.5million out of pocket.
“Sol recently rented out his Chelsea mansion,” I was told. “It’s beautiful – six storeys, eight bedrooms, overlooking the Thames, with a garden at the front and another at the back.”
Sol Campbell’s terrible tenant left him a whopping £1.5million out of his own pocket
There was a problem. The tenant has not paid the rent. Sol’s had to go to court to get an eviction notice.”
When I call Campbell, 47, I find him buzzing with anger – not just at the tenant, but at the big real estate agents, Savills.
“Savills brought the man in,” he tells me, explaining that Campbell and his wife, Fiona, an acclaimed interior designer and granddaughter of Barratt Homes founder Sir Lawrie Barratt, decided last summer to rent out the house in Chelsea. At first everything seemed fine. The tenant had apparently just sold his insurance business – “for £1 billion,” Campbell says. A two-year contract was duly signed.
“He paid the bail and three months’ rent.” But that was it: not a cent was paid anymore.
Sol Campbell and wife Fiona chose to rent out their Chelsea home last summer
Campbell went on the offensive and hired a private detective.
“The tenant has done a lot to get himself off the internet, but he was mentioned in the Panama Papers,” Campbell added, referring to the financial records of wealthy individuals and government officials that, in some cases, expose fraud and tax evasion. bring . Other details tumbled out. “Apparently he is getting a divorce, he pays two or three staff members, he pays school fees. He pays everyone – except me.’ The eviction notice will go into effect later this month.
But Sol and Fiona have had enough: their prize house is on the market – at £23 million.
A Savills spokesperson says references and credit checks have been conducted, saying: “The decision to proceed with a lease rests solely with the owner of the property.”
TV chef Ainsley roasts RHS over sister’s pond fall
The family of TV chef Ainsley Harriott is considering legal action against the Royal Horticultural Society after his sister Jacqueline fell into a pond during the Chelsea Flower Show in May.
Ainsley Harriott’s sister Jacqueline is removed from a water feature in the BBC garden by her brother after falling into it on the first day of the Chelsea Flower Show
Ambulance staff took her to hospital after she coughed up ‘a lot of water’. He tells me, ‘The Health and Safety wasn’t particularly great.’ Speaking at the TRIC awards at the Grosvenor House hotel in Mayfair, Harriott says: ‘They should have made it [the show pond] from. It was about six feet deep – quite a drop once you hit the water.’
An RHS spokesperson said: ‘We take health and safety very seriously. For the rest of the show we made the decision to close the garden to visitors.’
Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne is difficult to take seriously, according to TV presenter Rob Brydon. “Eddie Redmayne sounds like the kind of bangs a middle-class girl would have in Surrey,” he says of the 40-year-old star’s nickname. ‘Eddie Red Moons. † † he has red hair. “Come on, Eddie Red Mane, come on, Eddie Red Mane,” as she runs beside it.” Referring to Eddie’s fellow Eton-trained actor Tom Hiddleston, 41, the comedian adds: ‘The other one would be called Mister Hiddleston’
Will Jamie and Kate join the Primrose Hill set?
Could London’s chic Primrose Hill boost ballet shoe sales?
I’m only asking because Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell, 36, and his Hollywood actress, Kate Mara, 39, were spotted house hunting in the North London area.
Kate Mara and her husband Jamie Bell will soon be able to take part in the set in London
The casually dressed couple, who have a three-year-old daughter, met a woman who showed them around a house in a gated stable, and gave them a brief tour of amenities in the area, where the average price of a terrace house is nearly £4 million. .
The pair recently put their LA pad up for sale for £2.6million.
Arch-feminist Germaine Greer has moved into a care home after returning to her native Australia last year.
And I hear the author of The Female Eunuch, 83, is already provoking fights.
When residents got together to play a game of word bingo, they had to ask her to stop because she knew all the answers.
“I’m supposed to win, aren’t I?” she says. ‘I have a PhD from Cambridge. I had to sit there as they groped their way for the obvious answer. They probably hated me. That’s fine, I’m here to be hated.”
Marco’s girl rolls in
With the prices soaring and the nation having a hard time, I’m not sure this is the best look. † †
Marco Pierre White’s daughter Mirabelle shared the photo on Instagram with her 12.6k followers
Restaurateur Marco Pierre White’s daughter Mirabelle shared this photo of her and a friend, Eva, rolling around in a sea of fake money.
The photo was taken in one of the themed rooms at Cirque le Soir nightclub in Soho.
“Why Eva and I can’t cash in anymore,” Mirabelle, 21, jokes.
Cirque le Soir, where tables start at £1,000, has hosted Prince William, Princess Eugenie and Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio in the past.