I’m David Ginola’s secret lovechild – we met for first time in 28 years, he said I was ‘a real Ginola’ then cut me out

FOOTIE legend  David Ginola’s lovechild has revealed she met him for the first time after 28 years and he said “Yes, you are a real Ginola” — then cut her adrift again.

Joy Pinquier wept as the former France international finally admitted he is her dad and hugged her during an emotional meeting in her home town of Marseille.

But now devastated Joy claims she feels abandoned all over again  as following their hour-long meeting he severed any further contact.

In an exclusive interview Joy said: “He looked me up and down and said, ‘Yes, you are a real Ginola.’ I replied, ‘Why did you ever doubt it?’

“He took me in his arms and embraced me and it was a very special moment.

“I had tears in my eyes because it was the hug I had always dreamed of having with my dad.

“We talked for about an hour and it felt like we were connecting.

“He kept saying we would go to a restaurant to get to know each other better but, 18 months later, I still haven’t seen him.”

Ginola, 56, agreed to meet Joy after appearing on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here! in 2021.

Joy, now 30, said: “Two years ago I wrote to him through his Instagram account and, much to my surprise, he replied.

“I gave him my phone number and he called. We must have spoken on the phone for about two hours and after that we started exchanging messages on WhatsApp.

“One day I saw he was going to Marseille, where I live, to play boules with his friends. I decided to head over to meet him.

“I sent a text to let him know I was there and, as I walked over, I saw he had a big smile on his face. Now I realise that he never had any interest in being my father, he was just being polite.

“It’s a horrible thing to say, but I feel like I have been abandoned a second time.”

The meeting came despite Ginola refusing to have contact with her for the first 28 years of her life.

He was married and already had his first son Andrea, now 31, with model wife Coraline, 54 — also mum to his 28-year-old daughter Carla — when Joy was conceived during a fling with Joy’s mum in 1991.

A French court ordered Ginola to take a DNA test confirming paternity three times but he always refused.

Under French law, he was then automatically declared the father.

Ginola was ordered to pay €450 (£345) a month in child support until Joy turned 18.

Her mum Joelle Pinquier, 56, was working as a secretary in Paris, where Ginola was playing for the local club, when they met.

He went on to play for Paris Saint-Germain, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Everton.

He was also capped 17 times by France before retiring in 2002.

Ginola continues to work as a commentator in England and France and was one of the biggest stars of the 21st series of I’m a Celebrity, where he finished fourth.

Joy said: “Mum had no idea he was married — he must have hidden his wedding ring in his pocket. I found out that he was my dad when I was six years old.

“I remember we were playing a child’s game with a sticker album and when I came to his photo, I drew a heart on it.

“That’s when my mother said to me: ‘I have a secret to tell you about that man, but I will tell you about it when you are old enough to understand.’

“I said, ‘Tell me now’ and kept insisting. Eventually, she admitted he was my father.

“It was difficult to comprehend. I loved watching football and he was a magnificent player and such a big star in France.

“I would watch him on television all the time and I was in awe of him. Not having him around, it felt like a huge hole in my life.

“I couldn’t understand why he didn’t want to be my dad.

“A father plays such a hugely important role for a little girl.

“Anyone that misses that is going to have a hard time and my childhood was tough. I stayed with my grandparents in Paris a lot as my mother struggled to raise me alone and we didn’t have much money.

“I missed my dad and I needed his love and his guidance, but he did not want to take responsibility or own up to his mistake.

“He was told to have a DNA test by the court — the first time was when I was ten or 11 years old — but he refused.

“He started paying child support when I turned 13, but still he refused to see me and I felt his absence more and more as I got older.”

Joy laid eyes on her dad for the first time when she turned 15.

She said: “He asked to meet me at a lawyer’s office in Marseille, to see if we looked alike, but at the last minute he changed his mind.

“When I got to the lawyer’s office, he was already leaving.

“We saw each other across a spiral staircase and he looked at me and smiled.

“To me, it looked like a smirk. It was horrible. By the time I got home I was in floods of tears.”

Joy’s next close encounter with her dad came in May 2016, when she was 22. Ginola, who had recently separated from Coraline, collapsed during a charity football game in the south of France that month.

He had suffered a cardiac arrest and was clinically dead for eight minutes but survived because his friend and fellow footballer Frederic Mendy performed CPR.

Ginola was airlifted to hospital in Monaco where surgeons performed a six-hour quadruple bypass.

Joy drove 136 miles to the hospital from Marseille as soon as she heard the news.

She said: “I didn’t want the first day I met my dad to be when he was dead.

“I got as far as his room. The staff outside asked to see my ID then refused to let me in.

“Later that year, I was watching one of the games at the Euros in France when David appeared as a commentator on the big screen. I immediately burst into tears.”

It would be another five years before their next contact.

Joy said: “After we first spoke on the phone, he would write to me on WhatsApp and say ‘Happy birthday’ and things like that.

“It gave me hope, but he never ended his messages ‘Dad’, he always ended them ‘David’.

“Also, he refused to apologise. He told me he was not sorry because he had told my mother that he did not want to have a child — he was very harsh about the situation. I now realise that I can’t force him to be my father.

“I am not interested in his money and I never wanted to attack him publicly. I always felt it my responsibility to defend his reputation.

“But it’s got to a point where I feel a terrible anger and resentment towards my dad.

“More than anything, I want to finally look him in the eye and ask why he treated me like he did.”