Martin Compston confronted in shopping centre by furious man amid affair accusation
Martin Compston confronted in shopping centre by furious man amid affair accusation
The Scottish actor was left terrified by the public encounter as he feared he would be knocked out
Compston was wrongfully accused of sending illict texts to another woman
Soccer Aid is back for another year and actor Martin Compston is one of the famous faces that will be taking to the pitch at Old Trafford on Sunday evening.
The Line of Duty star will be representing the World XI as they take on England at the home of Manchester United and is one of the most qualified celebrities for the charity match, having previously played football at a professional level before finding fame as one of Britain's most-loved actors.
During his teenage years, Inverclyde-born Compston was a youth player with Aberdeen and after he left school, he signed for his local professional club Greenock Morton.
His footballing career was short-lived, however, as he made two first-team appearances as a defender during the 2001/02 Scottish Second Division season, coming off the bench against Alloa Athletic and Queen of the South.
Morton were relegated to the Third Division at the end of the season and, while the huge Celtic fan briefly played junior football for Grennock Juniors, he would never play professionally again.
Instead, his career would take a very different turn as, despite having never acted before, Compston landed the lead role in Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen and the role propelled him to fame in Scotland.
After winning the award for Most Promising Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards, he then starred in films alongside the likes of Robert Downey Jr and Peter Mullan, while he had a regular role in BBC series Monarch of the Glen.
However, today, the 41-year-old is best known for his role as Detective Sergeant Steve Arnott in BBC police drama Line of Duty.
The role has seen him nominated for a number of awards, but Compston has also experienced the downside of fame first-hand after a bizarre experience in a shopping centre, when he was confronted by a furious man who accused him of having an affair with his partner.
Compston - who has been married to American actress Tianna Chanel Flynn since 2016 - recalled the strange encounter on his Restless Natives podcast, as he revealed that he was the victim of an imposter who had posed as him before sending the woman in question a serious of illicit messages.
'I was in Braehead shopping centre with my mates and this lassie came up to me with this hardy boy behind her," the actor recalled.
"She went, 'He knows.' I was like, 'Excuse me?' She said, 'He's been through my phone, he found our texts.' This boy was growling at me. I'll be honest, I sh*t myself.
"I said, 'I'm sorry, I have no idea who you are'. She started getting the texts up on her phone and I was like, 'That's not my phone number'.
'The boy was getting edgy and he was ready to knock me out. My mates were not stepping in to back me up either.'
Explaining how he resolved the situation, Compston continued: 'I got my phone out and I said, 'Call it,' and she phoned it and nothing happened, my phone didn't ring.
'So somebody has been winding her up by pretending to be me. It was then just this really awkward stand-off of him being confused and still hating me but I had no idea who they were.'
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Having put the strange encounter behind him, the actor is now gearing up for another Soccer Aid performance, which will see him share the pitch with his World XI teammates, including Nemanja Vidic, Bryan Habana and Gladiators star Livi Sheldon.
He will be up against an England team that boasts ex-professionals like Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney, as well as celebrities including Tom Grennan, Bella Ramsey and Sir Mo Farah.
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