Footballer Phil Bardsley's step-daughter blamed her 'quasi-celebrity' status for drink-driving to escape from party after fellow guests targeted her with 'upsetting taunts'

Daily Mail​

25-07-2025

Influencer Gabriella Bardsley got into her car while drunk and drove off from a party after receiving 'hurtful jibes' about her 'quasi-celebrity' status, a court heard today.
The 23-year-old, daughter of Real Housewives of Cheshire star Tanya Bardsley, was more than three times over the limit when she was stopped by police.
Appearing before South Cheshire Magistrates' Court in Crewe today, Bardsley - who had been tipped to be part of this year's Love Island line-up - was sentenced to a driving ban and ordered to carry out community service.
At an earlier hearing last month, magistrates were told she was in her Audi A3 when she attempted to drive through a 'police blockade' at the scene of a road traffic collision in Wilmslow, Cheshire, on May 11.
Scott Woodward, prosecuting, told the court yesterday that Bardsley also drove around a recovery truck which had its lights on, that was also blocking the highway before stopping when a police officer gestured for her to pull in.
Mr Woodward said: 'It was evident she was under the influence of alcohol.'
During the earlier hearing, the court was told how Bardsley was visibly intoxicated, 'slurring her words' and 'struggling' to stand on her feet.
After a road-side breath test, Bardsley was taken to a police station and was found to have 122 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath - the UK legal limit being 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 milligrams of breath.
Bardsley, who stood in the dock in a white top and trousers, pleaded guilty to charge of drink-driving at the earlier hearing last month.
Her lawyer Gary Hughes claimed she only got in her car after fleeing a friend's party when someone recognised her from the ITVX series The Bardsley Bunch, in which she stars alongside her mum, her stepdad and ex-Manchester United footballer Phil Bardsley and younger brothers Rocco, Renz and Ralphi.
Mr Hughes said: 'Some people who were uninvited identified her as somebody who was on TV in a TV series.
'They decided to take it upon themselves to begin making hurtful jibes towards Ms Bardsley.
'She recognises it was a colossal error of judgment to leave the party impetuously and get in her car.'
He added: 'It's wasn't a flagrant disregard for the law. It was borne out of a set of circumstances and her quasi-celebrity status.'
Earlier, Mr Hughes told magistrates that Bardsley had been the 'subject of pressure from some quarters' due to her fame.
'She's been the subject off highly disparaging reports across her social media platforms,' he said.
Gabriella dressed in a white top and trousers as she received her punishment for drink-driving
'It has been a difficult couple of weeks for her.'
Bardsley had also been the target of a 'a number of upsetting taunts', he said, while 'some of the more unscrupulous members of the public are praying for her downfall'.
But Mr Hughes said his client accepted responsibility for her actions and there was not question of a 'lack of humility'.
He also pointed to her 'bonafide sense of contrition' and 'hitherto good character'.
Magistrates said they had considered the option of a jail sentence but also taken account of her previous good character.
They handed Bardsley, of Wilmslow, a 12-month community order and she was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.
She was also disqualified from driving for 29 months and ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 surcharge.
Bardsley made no comment as she left court this morning but tried to hide from waiting photographers by using an umbrella held by her biological father.
But she turned round to look at a group of men, who were sat on bench drinking lager, when they shouted at her as she walked away.
Gabriella and her mother Tanya in her Audi - when she went to have a consultation with a surgeon about breast enlargement on their ITVBe reality series
The reality TV star is seen outside court with her stepfather after earlier hearing last month
'Gabriella's already said no to Love Island and we do need to get her a boyfriend,' Tanya, 44, told Closer Magazine.
Speaking of the family's new TV series she added: 'Gabriella just lives in fairy land anyway.
'So it's just another nice thing, you know, a little fairy land.'
Her brush with the law comes after ITV bosses axed Kyle Ashman from this year's line-up following his arrest over a machete attack in February.
The 23-year-old was later released with no further action, taking to Instagram to insist: 'I'm not a bad guy.'
Tanya married Phil in 2014 and the couple have three sons - Rocco, 15, Renz, 12, and Ralphi, five - and she is also mother of Gabriella from a previous relationship.
The Kardashian-style TV series about the family follows the ups and downs of the couple's life with their children and Tanya's parents.
In an interview with OK! Magazine, Tanya described them as 'more like the Clampetts who won the lottery' than the Kardashians.
Rocco, 16, received an ADHD diagnosis shortly after Tanya shared her own back in 2020.
She has said they live in a house where 'everyone is on the spectrum somewhere'.
A production team installed GoPro cameras throughout their home and placed small microphones in plant pots and on picture frames to capture the family's life.
Last month Tanya - who made her TV debut on The Real Housewives of Cheshire in 2015 - revealed how two masked men attempted to break into her £2million mansion while her family slept.
Luckily the gang were scared off before they were able to break into the property.