Vanessa Perroncel: had an affair with England captain John
Terry
England captain John Terry’s career was thrown into
further doubt last night after it was revealed he got his
team-mate’s girlfriend pregnant.
The Mail on Sunday has learned that French model Vanessa
Perroncel, former partner of fellow England defender Wayne Bridge,
had an abortion within months of the affair starting.
The pregnancy and termination are thought to have been the
‘consequences’ referred to by the High Court judge who threw out
the £170,000-a-week footballer’s bid to seek a draconian gagging
order to keep his affair secret.
Last night, the far-reaching implications of Terry’s
extraordinary legal action were becoming clear.
There is now a strong belief among fans that Terry may have
caused irreparable damage to England’s chances of success at the
World Cup in South Africa in June.
Although he is seen as a vital member of the squad, his
behaviour has turned him into a pariah and has deeply unsettled his
team-mates.
There is anger, too, that his decision to use a super-injunction
to try to prevent scrutiny of his actions has only served to
exacerbate an already painful situation.
Marriage in crisis: England captain John Terry with
his wife Toni
Rejecting Terry’s claim for the right to have a ‘private
and family life’, the judge said he believed it was more likely
Terry was trying to protect his reputation and business
interests.
In his written judgment, Mr Justice Tugendhat referred to
‘details of such affair and/or relationship, including the
consequences thereof’.
Although he as not explicit by what was meant by the
‘consequences’, the internet was yesterday buzzing with reports
that it referred to Miss Perroncel’s abortion. When asked about it,
Miss Perroncel’s publicity agent Max Clifford said: ‘No
comment‘.
Friends said last night the termination was arranged by Terry
and took place at a private clinic under clandestine circumstances.
Miss Perroncel arrived and left the clinic via a back entrance.
Terry is now facing a showdown with England manager Fabio
Capello, expected to take place today, which may well decide
the course of his career. But yesterday he appeared to put his
private troubles behind him when he captained Chelsea in their
Premiership clash against Burnley, scoring the winning goal in the
2-1 victory in the 82nd minute.
He was booed by the opposing home fans whenever he touched the
ball, and endured their chants of: ‘Same old Terry, always
cheating’ and the song: ‘Chelsea wherever you may be, don’t leave
your wife with John Terry.’
Friends said Terry’s affair began soon after Miss Perroncel, a
lingerie model, split from Bridge last summer. At first it was
platonic, but became sexual in September. It is understood she
became pregnant in October and had the termination weeks later.
‘John has known her for years and there was always something
between them, a kind of flirtatious thing,’ a friend told The Mail
on Sunday. ‘It used to upset John’s wife Toni.
‘After Vanessa and Wayne separated, John would go around to her
house, initially at least, to offer support. Then it got a lot
heavier very quickly.’
On Friday, after the gagging order was overturned in the High
Court, Mrs Terry rang Miss Perroncel, who lives close to the
couple’s £3million home in the footballers’ enclave of Oxshott,
Surrey.
Bridge, only learned about the liaison because of
the court action.
The two women had been close friends before the news of
Terry’s infidelity broke and sources described their conversation
as ‘extremely tense’.
Earlier that day, Miss Perroncel spoke for the first time about
the affair to a Mail on Sunday reporter. Describing how Terry’s
secrecy bid backfired so spectacularly, she said that Bridge, the
father of her three-year-old son, only learned about the liaison
because of the court action.
‘Wayne rang me last weekend and started shouting at me and
accusing me of having an affair,’ said Miss Perroncel. ‘It was
terrible. He was saying horrible things.’
She said she told Bridge, 29, that she wasn’t having an affair
‘but he wouldn’t believe me’. Earlier, she said: ‘Wayne was
convinced I had been cheating on him because the court action had
been taken. It was an agonising call and he was furious.
‘I am a close friend of his [John Terry’s]. We don’t talk
everyday, but we are in touch a lot. I have known him for eight
years, I even knew him before Wayne.
'He has been to my house. I am also a close friend of his wife
and I phoned her last weekend to arrange for us to go out
together.
Wag friends: Toni and Vanessa at a Chelsea
match
‘I am friends with Frank Lampard’s ex-fiancee Elen as
well. I don’t know what they are all going to think. It is a very
close community of footballers and their wives here. I’m a single
mother with a little boy to think about.’
Miss Perroncel’s £3 million mansion on an exclusive estate in
Oxshott is a short drive from where Terry lives with 28-year-old
Toni, his childhood sweetheart, and their three-year-old twins.
His mother and mother-in-law both live on the same road, while
other neighbours include West Ham midfielder Scott Parker, Chelsea
midfielder Joe Cole and England star Ashley Cole and his wife
Cheryl.
Terry, 29, is believed to have spent yesterday explaining
himself to his wife. Friends said that although Terry has been
caught cheating before, his previous encounters had been much less
serious and short-lived. ‘Toni will find this devastatingly
painful,’ said one friend.
Meanwhile Terry also faces a backlash from players and fans.
Bridge, once a close friend, is said to have made it clear in
football circles that he will not travel with Terry to the World
Cup if, as expected, he is selected for the squad.
News of the affair broke as Bridge and Miss Perroncel, who were
together for three years, were struggling to sort out a settlement
following their split six months ago. He moved to a £2million
Edwardian mansion in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, while she remained in
the marital home, after his transfer to Manchester City.
Speaking about the negotiations, Miss Perroncel said: ‘Wayne and
I are trying to sort out a settlement and I have been told by
lawyers not to say certain things because it could affect it. The
house I am living in is the one that Wayne and I had. It is very
sad.’
Yesterday, Bridge declined to comment on the affair.
It is understood Terry was seen visiting his lover’s
home in his green Bentley two weeks ago. A witness said he appeared
to use an electronic ‘beeper’ to get through the security
gates.
Toni and Vanessa became close friends in 2006 after the model
started dating Bridge and last summer the two women went on a
‘girls’ break’ together.
In 2005, two years before his marriage to Toni, Terry said:
‘I’ve mis-behaved and slept with girls behind her back. I’m not
going to cheat on her ever again and I want to marry her more than
anything.’
But the day he was quoted, it emerged he had a fling with a
blonde – and even borrowed Bridge’s house as a love nest.
The girl concerned, 25-year-old Shalimar Wimble, said at the
time: ‘John never mentioned his fiancee Toni to me – I guess that’s
why he took me to Wayne’s place.’
On Friday, Mr Justice Tugendhat said it was crucial that
newspapers should not be prevented from reporting details of his
philandering ways just because they were ‘socially harmful’.
The triangle: Terry sitting beside Perroncel and
Bridge during a Carling Cup match in 2007
It was also revealed in court that Terry tried to
silence his former lover by getting her to sign a ‘confidentiality’
agreement. In documents disclosed by Terry’s lawyers, it was
claimed that she was offered just £1 in return for signing the
agreement.
But Judge Tugendhat said that it could have been a nominal sum
and she might have been given more.
The deal was done at a hotel after Terry became concerned about
rumours circulating in the football world a week ago.
He believed a newspaper was about to expose his secret, so on
Friday January 22, two of Terry’s business partners met Vanessa at
a London hotel and she signed two documents, the court heard.
The first was a short letter which said: ‘I agree to keep such
information private and confidential’ and promising to pass any
media inquiries on to one of Terry’s business partners.
The second document said she agreed to keep quiet, ‘in order to
assist you in keeping such information confidential and in
consideration of £1, receipt of which is hereby acknowledged’.
The judge said he was ‘troubled’ by the arrangement and in a
scathing remark said: ‘Their business interest is to protect
Terry’s reputation. I am left in serious doubt as to whether the
information sourced through the business partners is full and
frank.’
Legitimately playing away: A tired and
sheepish-looking John Terry warming up with his Chelsea teammates
(left) and celebrating his goal (right) at Turf Moor Stadium in
Burnley today
He also had to endured new chants of: ‘Same old Terry,
always cheating’ and a song: ‘Chelsea wherever you may be,
don’t leave your wife with John Terry.’
An attempt by two of Terry’s business partners to silence Miss
Perroncel was partly responsible for the judge’s decision to allow
damaging details to be reported.
Court documents revealed she was given £1 for signing a
confidentiality agreement. But Mr Justice Tugendhat ‘did not feel
confident’ the papers she signed expressed her wishes.
He also suggested she may have been given more money.
She met the men at a London hotel on January 22. But the judge
was concerned that the ‘business partners’ had not been frank with
the court about events leading to her signing of the contract.
The identity of the two men was not revealed but the judge said
they promoted the player for sponsorship deals and protected his
image.
Terry is represented by Elite management, run by Essex
businessmen Paul Nicholls and Keith Cousins. Both men describe
themselves as ‘long term friends’ of Terry. Nicholls played
alongside Terry as a Chelsea youth player.
Mr Cousins and Mr Nicholls took over Terry’s management before
the start of the season after he parted company from agent Aaron
Lincoln.
Lincoln had been credited with cultivating a more wholesome
image for Terry.
In November, Terry was severely embarrassed when an email was
circulated among the sports business community.
It had been sent by a small firm called Riviera Entertainment,
based in Enfield, North London, hired by Elite management to fix
lucrative commercial deals for the star leading up to the World
Cup.
The email was widely criticised as a bid to use Terry’s position
as England’s captain as another cash cow.
