Hand in hand and beaming with happiness, former England footballer Andy Carroll and his on-off girlfriend Lou Teasdale looked more loved up than ever at an awards show last night.
Brushing shoulders with the likes of Katie Price’s daughter Princess Andre and Love Island’s Liberty Poole, the couple joyfully posed for pictures at London venue The Dilly for the Superdrug Stars beauty event.
But this wasn’t a regular couple’s appearance for Andy, 36, and Lou, 41. For it has been reported in recent weeks that the pair have split twice following a series of rows – the first time after a spectacularly vicious spat at Glastonbury in June. It came after father-of-five Andy was questioned by police in Mykonos over drunken arguments they had. However he wasn’t arrested and no further action was taken.
At the time friends of Lou told me they were thrilled about the end of the romance. They did not like Andy and told me that teetotal Lou struggled with Andy’s fondness for alcohol.
They thought that Lou, who was a hair stylist for the now defunct boyband One Direction, had finally rid herself of him. But much to their dismay only a few days later Andy and Lou were back together, with Andy whisking her off to Ibiza for a ‘make or break’ holiday.
The pair reportedly broke up for a second time after the holiday – but are now back together for good.
I’m told many in Lou’s circle couldn’t understand why she would take Andy – who has a long-running reputation as a ‘party boy’ – back. After all, he still hasn’t finalised his separation from ex-wife and the mother of three of his children, Billi Mucklow.
And, famously, during his stag do in Dubai in May 2022 before his marriage to Billi, he was pictured ‘passed out’ between two blonde women. Their wedding went ahead after Billi forgave Andy.
On-off couple Lou Teasdale and Andy Carroll at the Superdrug Star Awards in London on Tuesday, September 9
Which begs the question: why has millionairess Lou, a respected businesswoman, not left him in the dust?
One source close to the stylist tells me: ‘Lou just won’t leave Andy, she’s just absolutely in love with him.
‘While you would expect her to be the one with the power in the relationship – after all, she has the money and great career while he’s a bit washed up – it’s not her. It’s him.
‘If he snaps his fingers, she goes running back. She just won’t leave him. She is completely head-over-heels in love with him.
‘Some might wonder why, but she just is.’
Andy, who was once a stand-out star in English football, has dropped a number of leagues – once playing for Premier League side Newcastle United but today Dagenham and Redbridge in the National League South – and is today nowhere near as wealthy has he once was.
He has also found himself in trouble with the law. Last July a video emerged of him in a drunken brawl with a group of men in Mayfair, London, following a meal at the upmarket restaurant Sexy Fish with his ex, Billi. In 2012 he was involved in a scuffle with a photographer and two years earlier he had been arrested and subsequently fined for assaulting a man outside of a Newcastle nightclub.
Andy, who was once a stand-out star in English football, has dropped a number of leagues, today playing for Dagenham and Redbridge in the National League South
Andy and Lou on his Instagram story on September 7 this year, quashing break-up rumours
Lou, meanwhile, owns a stunning home in Hackney, east London, thanks to her income from her tanning firm Tanologist, which she co-founded with Lottie Tomlinson, One Direction star Louis Tomlinson’s sister – as well as her work as an influencer.
Those close to Lou suspect that she took Andy back because of her own troubled history in relationships. She was once engaged to a rock singer Tom Atkin, the father of her daughter Lux, 14.
‘Lou hasn’t got the best track record when it comes to men so the bar is pretty low,’ says one pal. ‘And she thinks Andy is Mr Wonderful.
‘Some of Lou’s friends and family are just leaving them to it now. There seems to be a cycle: He upsets her for something, then he apologies and does these grand gestures and she goes back. Sadly that is probably how it will continue to go now.
‘It’s such a shame but the sexual chemistry is so strong that nothing he can do that will stop her from loving him and wanting to be with him.’
The Daily Mail revealed Lou and Andy had got together last September, having met three months before at Glastonbury 2024. Some weeks after they met, Andy announced he and Billi had split, revealing in a statement: ‘Billi and I have privately separated earlier this year and we are under way with our divorce proceedings.’
Andy and Lou wasted no time in making their romance public, while Billi looked after her three children with Andy – as well his two teenagers from a previous relationship.
Billi was forced to put their six-bedroom marital home – which the couple bought from Sir Rod Stewart for £4.1million back in 2019 – on the market. Regulars at Andy and Billi’s local pub the Theydon Oak in Essex found themselves forced to take sides in the ugly split because Lou’s sister Sam was also a regular.
Friends of Lou tell me: ‘Lou is so lovely and successful. She has worked so hard to get what she has and is extremely astute and bright.
‘Andy is just a bit of a loser. Lou can do better but she doesn’t want to when Andy is around. It’s such a shame.’
Despite their blazing rows, some close to Lou even say they could see her and Andy walking down the aisle in the not-too-distant future.
‘Lou would make a lovely bride,’ said one. ‘And she’s so loved up with Andy that you wouldn’t put it past her marrying him sometime soon.’
