I’m A Celebrity star Lisa Snowdon was ‘pursued heavily’ by footballer Jay Bothroyd and she was devastated to discover he was ‘still married’
I’M A Celebrity star Lisa Snowdon "pursued heavily" by footballer Jay Bothroyd and she was devastated to discover he was still married during their fling.
The Sun on Sunday revealed the sportsman had an eight-month affair with the model behind his wife's back, but Lisa had no idea he was a cheat.
Lisa fell for Jay who is married to Stella Pozzi-Bothroyd.
A pal told us: “Lisa had no idea. He told her the marriage was over.”
An insider also told that the TV beauty was shattered when she discovered the truth.
The source said: "She was devastated. She wasn't going out to have an affair, he told her that he was single.
"She started dating a guy who pursued her very heavily at the beginning and she was always very cautious."
I’m A Celebrity star Lisa, 44, started planning her future with the striker — and the couple even looked at plots of land to build a home on.
But they broke up and snake Bothroyd, 34, was soon back in the arms of wife Stella, who had discovered the fling but forgiven him.
Lisa had fallen for Jay at a London awards ceremony in 2010, also attended by his Italian wife Stella Pozzi-Bothroyd.
A source said: “Lisa had no idea when she began dating Jay he was still with Stella. He said the marriage was over and he was single.
“So it was a real shock when she found out he had lied.
“Especially because it turned out Stella was also at the awards ceremony where they met, the Inspirational Awards for Women.
“She couldn’t believe he had been cheating on his wife.
“Meanwhile Stella, who found out about the affair, was telling Jay if he wanted their marriage to work he needed to end the fling.
“Jay agreed at first, but after a few days he admitted he couldn’t give Lisa up and Stella moved out.
“Lisa was far from happy with the situation, but she thought that in ending his marriage, Jay had proved he loved her as much as she loved him.
“And it wasn’t long before she was thinking about their future.”
Radio host Lisa was shocked when she realised Jay was still married to Stella while they were together
Capital Radio DJ Lisa and Three Lions star Jay saw their romance become public in February 2011, when they were pictured embracing in the street.
They went on to date for a further four months.
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The source went on: “Lisa fell in love with Jay and she wanted a future with him, with marriage, children and their own house.
“They were planning to build a house together and even got as far as looking at plots of land.
“But in the end it proved too much for Jay. He is younger than Lisa, and he didn’t really want the same things as she did.
“He was also getting a lot of stick from his team-mates, who were all saying that Lisa was out of his league because she had dated George Clooney.
“He had quite a few bust-ups over the ribbing.
“Meanwhile Lisa could tell Jay seemed to be going cold on her. She also suspected that he was cheating, though she never had any real proof.
“They had some very fiery rows about their future, and by June the romance had fizzled out.”
Sources told how, within months, he was back by his wife’s side.
London-born Jay, who has son Mace from a previous relationship, first met Verona-born Stella while he was playing for Italian football club Perugia in 2003.
They married in 2007, and Stella followed him as he transferred to Cardiff City in 2008, then Queens Park Rangers in July 2011.
His affair with Lisa left her heartbroken but, despite moving out, the interior designer did not threaten him with divorce — still hoping they would reconcile.
The source said: “Divorce was never discussed.
“Despite his affair, she saw him as the love of her life, and didn’t want to give up on the relationship unless she had no choice.
“After he and Lisa split up, there was a lot of damage to undo.
“But gradually they grew closer, and began to rebuild the marriage. Now they consider themselves an even stronger couple than they were before.”
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In the months after they reconciled, Stella hinted at her reasons on Twitter, reposting a message about forgiveness.
It read: “More than 90 per cent of the time, forgiveness is given to another person because we want to keep them as part of our life.”
An earlier message also read: “Karma has no deadline — and success is the best revenge.”
The couple now split their time between the UK and Asia after Jay signed to Japanese league side Jubilo Iwata in February 2015.
They celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary in June.
Meanwhile Lisa, who makes her debut on I’m A Celebrity, is dating former pal George Smart.
She first met the entrepreneur, seven years her junior, 14 years ago when she was a presenter at MTV and he worked in marketing.
They were reintroduced a year ago and started dating.
In an interview last week ahead of her jungle stint, she gushed about her plans to marry him.
She said: “George is brilliant with everything. I can rely on him.
“We’re not engaged but it’s inevitable we will get married as we just fit. It’s the first time I’ve felt marriage was on the cards. I know we’ll be together for ever.”
Lisa’s previous boyfriends include Hollywood heart-throb Clooney — who she dated on and off for five years — CSI actor Gary Dourdan and model Paul Sculfor.
But while they were mentioned in her interview, Jay was airbrushed from her romantic history.
The source added: “Lisa had no idea she was doing anything wrong when she and Jay got together, but it’s no surprise she has dropped him from the records.
“At the time, the fact that they had an affair somehow went under the radar, and I’m sure she would rather things stayed that way.”
A source close to Lisa last night said Jay pursued Lisa after their first meeting. The source insisted she was initially cautious, but eventually agreed to go on a date.
They also added that the relationship started to suffer after Jay failed to visit Lisa in hospital when she contracted meningitis in November 2010.
A spokesman for Jay last night declined to comment.
A spokesman for Lisa said last night: “Lisa is unavailable for comment while in the jungle.”
