Shameless Terry paid mistress Vanessa Perroncel £750,000 hush
money then instructed advisors to approach a string of other girls
he fears could wreck his career.
"This has now all gone much deeper than an affair with a
teammate's old girlfriend," said a source last night. "It is all
about Terry doing everything and anything to save his skin and
reputation."
The Chelsea defender's desperate move took place in a week of
BITTER ROWS, LIES and THREATS seething below the surface of a
scandal that has seen him stripped of the England captaincy and
made his furious wife flee to Dubai with their three-year-old
twins.
Today we expose how Terry battled to silence Vanessa, the former
partner of his England team-mate Wayne Bridge.
We also reveal how furious Manchester City star Bridge put the
boot into Terry on the day of his sacking by telling England boss
Fabio Capello he had "lost all respect" for his fellow World Cup
defender. And we uncover a bitter battle between Vanessa and Bridge
over money.
All 29-year-old Terry's concentration last week was focused on
trying to get the spilt milk back into the bottle after the court
ban on the News of the World story about his affair was
lifted.
The 2009 Dad of the Year had a series of meetings with a team of
advisors, lawyers and business associates as they thrashed out a
plan to try to save the player's image and his lucrative
sponsorship deals with firms like Umbro. We can reveal that top of
his list was the gagging of a string of beauties he feared would
line up to do a Tiger Woods on him.
"He does not want any ex-lovers coming out of the
woodwork," a source told us last night. "His people are throwing
the money around to stop them talking.
"He is going to astonishing lengths and spending huge sums. But
whatever he does he can't prevent the truth from coming out. It is
all unravelling."
Terry will be hoping the other lovers on his substitutes bench
prove a lot cheaper to silence than lingerie model Vanessa,
33.
He thought he had done the trick when his best mate Paul
Nicholls, of Elite Management, and partner Keith Cousins got her to
sign two confidentiality agreements for a nominal £1 with a final
sum to be negotiated in a hotel meeting.
But doubts over the validity of the documents were raised by
High Court judge Sir Michael Tugendhat who lifted the ban on our
story. Wily Vanessa than teamed up with PR to the stars Max
Clifford - and the pound signs began rolling in her eyes. Our
source revealed: "Clifford has been doing what he does best. All
Vanessa had to do was sit tight and let the offers flood in. She
was in a win-win situation.
"And Terry knew he could always beat any newspaper's price for
her story and his account would not been dented.
"It became a matter of making sure the contract was absolutely
watertight. There were a lot of frantic phone calls and meetings.
Terry was mightily relieved when the deal was done."
But after getting a fortune from Terry, Vanessa was still not
satisfied - and has had a series of furious rows over MONEY with
Bridge, 29, the father of her three-year-old son Jaydon. Reports
that the two had an "emotional but amicable reunion" for the sake
of their son were scotched by a pal of the Manchester City star
last night. He told us they had a "blazing row" after Bridge
blasted her for allowing Terry round while his son was in their
house in Oxshott, Surrey.
The pal said: "Vanessa has crossed the line and Wayne let her
know what he felt about it. It was one thing learning about the
affair but when he found out it took place in his home and the
child was present, he was livid."
Bridge screamed at French-born Vanessa: "I can't believe you had
sex with him in our house with Jaydon there. I pay you enough a
month, you could have got a hotel room!" The pal said Vanessa is
demanding more money from Bridge to live on - and even wants cash
to look after her HAIR and NAILS.
Meanwhile Terry is said by a source to be at his "lowest ebb"
after losing the England captaincy. His love rival Bridge told
Capello: "I can play in the same team as him. I am not that
childish but I don't want him as my captain because I have lost all
respect for him. He was meant to be my mate."
A pal of Bridge also revealed that a number of senior players
had told Capello they no longer wanted Terry as captain.
Three thousand miles away, his devastated wife Toni, 28,
is deciding whether she still wants him as her husband, still
reeling from the news that Vanessa had fallen pregnant and Terry
paid for her abortion.
A friend of the beauty said: "Toni is going to make him pay and
make him sweat over their future." A source close to Terry said he
has been speaking regularly to Toni in Dubai - but only in the last
two days has it been less frosty. Toni had a furious showdown on
Friday with her love rat hubby and was livid he has not issued a
public apology to her about his behaviour.
We can reveal Terry's own advisors begged him to say sorry to
his family and fans, in the 14-word official statement he released
on Friday after his sacking. But he made no apology.
An insider said: "He just wants to cover this up so it goes away
without him having to admit anything."