Latest news with #AbiTitmuss
Daily Mail
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Where is Abi Titmuss now? Star quit her lads' mag career in favour of quiet family life in LA with soap star husband
She was once one of Britain's most famous glamour models, gracing the covers of lads' mags and the first-ever series of Love Island back in 2005. But Abi Titmuss is living a very different life now than when she first found fame as a TV personality and Page Three girl. The 49-year-old, who grew up in Lincolnshire, now lives in Los Angeles where she is a married mother-of-one. Abi has largely retreated from public view in recent years in favour of living a quiet family life. From Celebrity Love Island to a stint on US soap opera Days Of Our Lives, MailOnline takes a look at where the star is now. From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new Showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Abi became a lads' mag favourite after her relationship with disgraced TV presenter John Leslie pushed her into the public eye. Indeed, at a time when they were flying off the shelves, she famously ranked seventh by FHM in their 2005 list of the 100 Sexiest Women in the World. Abi and John started dating after they met in a bar in Fulham on April 10, 1999. She was his girlfriend when he was charged with sexually assaulting another woman in 2003 and was subsequently cleared. After causing headlines while leaving court with John, Abi went on to feature on the front page of various lads' magazines - including Nuts, Loaded and FHM. She told Femail back in 2012: 'I didn't think I deserved the attention, so the more money I earned, the worse I felt. 'I could make £30,000 for a shoot but I knew how third-rate I was. I could feel my lack of discernible talent as though I was wearing it.' She later told the publication: 'Suddenly I was being offered a lot of money to do shoots. I thought I could handle it. But I couldn't. 'They created this caricature of a person that I didn't recognise. I was always the same Abigail inside. 'I studied Latin at school, I'm from a good family. But the image that was created was nonsense.' After going their separate ways around 2004, Abi then went on to work as a roving reporter for Richard and Judy, before appearing in a selection of reality shows - including Hell's Kitchen, Celebrity Love Island and Come Dine With Me. Later, Abi decided to focus on an acting career and took courses at the Central School of Speech and Drama. A short stint in theatre beckoned, where Abi bagged a Fringe Report award for Best West End Debut in Two Way Mirror, before going on to play Lady Macbeth in Lowestoft. After starring in Hotel Babylon and then Casualty in 2012, she fled to the States, changed her name to Abigail Evelyn, and in 2015 landed the role of Nurse Jackie in long running soap opera Days Of Our Lives. It was there that she met husband Ari Welkom, 41, an American rock star and actor, who rose to stardom in 2005 following his appearance in Brick, alongside Joseph-Gordon Levitt. She said that what attracted her to Ari, who plays Aldo in the soap, was his lack of judgement about her saucy former career. 'I wanted to meet somebody who didn't know anything about me so I would know 100 per cent in my heart this person just liked me for me and didn't have any judgement.' It was around this time Abi admitted that the arc lights of fame drove her into a suicidal depression that took years of therapy and a move to the other side of the Atlantic to break. Speaking of whether she actually considered killing herself, Abi told Mail Online in 2015: 'Yes, many times. It took me years of therapy to deal with the depression. It was a traumatic experience. I don't think it will ever go away.' Abi and Ari tied the knot in May 2017, and the media learned she was pregnant in January 2018, when the couple were spotted leaving the Bootleg Theater in Los Angeles. Following their exchange of vows, the blushing bride confessed to Hello! magazine that she was aware of the baby's presence during their big day. She told the publication: 'I was aware throughout our wedding day that there were three, not two, of us experiencing it together. 'The baby is able to hear now and it was lovely to think he or she could have been listening to us making our vows. 'When the harpist started to play, I could feel him or her moving around.' The news came after Abi, who previously enjoyed dalliances with David Walliams, footballer Lee Sharpe and actor Marc Warren, revealed she was 'ready to be a mum', in light of her engagement. It's not known exactly when Abi gave birth to her son but she was seen out with him for the first time in January 2018. Abi apears to have given up acting with her last credit on IMDB being from 2019. She has also gone quiet on social media, with her last Instagram post from 2021. Abi was most recent seen in April 2025 where she stepped out for an afternoon stroll with her husband and son in LA.
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
What happened to football's most notorious Noughties lothario Lee Sharpe after he broke hearts on Love Island and cheated on Abi Titmuss
It was Jayne Middlemiss who famously claimed she'd 'never felt like this about anyone before' after falling for former footballer Lee Sharpe on Celebrity Love Island. Middlemiss would win the 2005 show - an early prototype for the Love Island we're all too familiar with - but she would do it without Sharpe, who ultimately dumped her in favour of fellow contestant Abi Titmuss. 'I'll always be grateful to you for binning me off on national TV,' the tearful presenter had told him before scooping the prize money alongside Irish club owner Fran Cosgrove, unaware that she may well have had a lucky escape. Indeed, his short-lived romance with Titmuss would eventually end in tears - and allegations of feckless behaviour after Sharpe was accused of cheating on the former nurse. But as bitter and acrimonious as that would prove to be, Sharpe's alleged antics with Titmuss following their brief stay in Fiji were mere brushstrokes in a bigger picture, the origins of which can be traced back to the rather less glamorous Manchester. A talented footballer who initially made his mark with Torquay United, Sharpe's ball-playing abilities were soon acknowledged by Sir Alex Ferguson, who signed the then 17-year old midfielder for Manchester United in 1988. It would be the catalyst for a series of life-changing moments, both on and off the pitch, with the footballer playing a significant role in United's early-90s resurgence and eventual domination of Premier League football. Blessed with photogenic good looks and possessed with a sense of style previously lacking in elite sportsmen, Sharpe also spearheaded the rise of the 'celebrity' footballer at a time when David Beckham was still polishing boots and dramatically escalating salaries were giving players the opportunity to live like the proverbial king. But Sharpe later admitted his weakness for the ladies led to him getting the notorious 'hairdryer treatment' from a furious Ferguson. He told The Sun: 'I found a house in Whitefield and moved my girlfriend up from Birmingham and everything was great. But then I hit a little bit of form that wasn't quite up to the manager's standards. 'We were at Anfield getting beat at half-time, and he gave me the biggest rollicking of my life and told me to sell my house, move my girlfriend back home and told me to get out there and play!' He added: 'It's probably the worst place to go if you're not having a good game and not full of confidence. 'I had a nightmare, so he brought me off with about 20 minutes to go. I got back, sold the house, sold the car, and told my girlfriend to go back to Birmingham and that was me! 'He asked me now and then after that if I had a girlfriend or if I was married but I always told him that I'd got rid of my girlfriend, wasn't getting married and not to ask me again! That was the biggest run-in I had with him!' After winning three Premier League titles during a trophy-laden eight years with Manchester United, Sharpe would see out his career with Bradford City and Leeds United before hanging up his boots for good in 2004. Little more than a year later, the newly retired footballer would successfully woo Middlemiss in Fiji, before leaving her for Titmuss - an episode that would cement his reputation as a love rat. His public image suffered further damage after he was accused of romping with shop promotions worker Kathryn Shaw in the back of his car, on his way to meet Titmuss at the 2005 V Festival. Shaw told The Mirror at the time: 'We've got a little halfway point in-between where he lives and where I live. It's just off the M62 in between Leeds and Manchester. 'We come off the motorway and there's a little bridge near Rochdale so we just abandon a car and go for a drive in his. 'Maybe we stop off for a drink in a pub and do... whatever. It's really nice, it's not really mucky or horrible. We meet up whenever. It depends where he is and what he's doing. We keep in touch all the time. 'We do a lot of texting. I've got about 40 texts on my phone from him at the moment. And I wouldn't be surprised if he's texted other women too.' In one text, allegedly sent before he romped with Shaw in a lay-by, Sharpe writes: 'I would babe but only here for one night. Go to V Festival tomorrow. halfway in the car could be nice for old times.' The following day he allegedly texted the shop worker while partying with his girlfriend at the Chelmsford event, writing: 'It was very horny babe, must do it more often and soon.' In her book, Titmuss described the moment she found out about the betrayal when she received a flurry of text messages from friends and relatives asking if she was OK, including ex-boyfriends John Leslie and David Walliams. 'I feel like I'm being physically torn in half,' she said. 'I have my boyfriend looking me straight in the eye, telling me he loves me and totally denying it. And in my hand I have the front page of a national paper with a woman looked out at me swearing he has slept with her. 'He just kept telling me it wasn't true. My whole world is torn apart.' Their relationship limped on in an on-off fashion into the following year, but she was unable to trust him and he was unhappy with her penchant for partying. When they finally split, she described how she 'blamed herself', saying: 'If only I had been thinner, prettier, smarter, more together, drank less, been a better girlfriend.' Elsewhere, former Big Brother contestant Lisa Jeynes claimed she enjoyed a 'marathon sex session' with Sharpe after the pair spent months texting each other. 'We had a marathon sex session that went on for hours. He satisfied me in every way,' she told People in 2013. 'Afterwards he was very cuddly and we curled up like spoons. I thought he really cared for me.' But she says the retired footballer left her heartbroken after choosing to break off their romance and rekindle his relationship with Titmuss. She said: 'I was devastated. He never mentioned Abi when he was with me and looked uncomfortable if I asked him about her. Now I know why.' 'I couldn't believe that he didn't have the decency to just tell me. I think he should have been more of a man about it and admitted that he was trying to have a go with Abi.' After subsequent romances with actress Kym Marsh and Michelle Heaton, Sharpe eventually found lasting love with Lucy Gardner in 2011. Six years later, Sharpe proposed in front of more the 250 guests while they attended a Pied Piper fundraiser at Cheltenham Races in 2017. 'It was absolutely wonderful to witness,' Pied Piper board member Cathryn Hage told Gloucestershire Live. 'We filled the marquee with friends and supporters of the charity, and raised around £15,000 as a result. 'It was so nice because we had a great day, the weather was beautiful and then Lee proposed. It was very special and everyone wished the couple well. It was a real buzz in the tent.' Two years later the couple exchanged vows on the Amalfi Coast and now live in Spain, where they raise three children. It's quite a turnaround for the former footballer, whose peaceful life on the Spanish coast has enabled him to build on his love of golf in the hope of turning pro. 'I've always loved golf. I started playing when I got to United when I was 17, so I was a bit of a late starter,' he told the Express in 2023. 'But I always loved it, and I had a mate who was a golf pro on the European Tour at the same time I was trying to get my handicap down as an amateur to scratch. He added: 'The idea was that I was going to try and qualify for the British Open as an amateur, and he was going to try and qualify as a pro. Move on a few years down the line, and I turned pro in the UK. 'Over here in Spain, it's a bit of a different regime, and I've got to go down a different route to do it. That's what I'm trying to do at the moment: turn pro in Spain.'
