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.
Lee Sharpe had a well earned reputation as a ladies man before marrying in 2019 (pictured in 2005)
She would ultimately be dumped in favour of former nurse Abi Titmuss, who would end their romance just 10-months later amid claims of his cheating with two other women
Sharpe with Jayne Middlemiss in Fiji before their Celebrity Love Island romance turned sour
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!’
It was Jayne Middlemiss who famously claimed she’d ‘never felt like this about anyone before’ after falling for footballer Lee Sharpe during their notorious appearance on Celebrity Love Island (pictured)
Sharpe is a popular figure in Manchester, having played for Manchester United during one of the most significant periods in the club’s history (pictured here playing against Blackburn Rovers in 1996)
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.’
Former Big Brother contestant Lisa Jeynes – pictured walking behind Lee – claimed she enjoyed a ‘marathon sex session’ after the pair spent months texting each other (pictured in 2005)
Sharpe was also romantically linked with singer and actress Kym Marsh (pictured)
… and Liberty X singer Michelle Heaton (pictured together in 2008)
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.
Sharpe married Lucy Gardner on the Amalfi Coast in 2017 and now lives in Spain, where the couple raise three children
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 (pictured in 2025)
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.
(L-R) Celebrity Love Island cast Liz McClarnon, Lee Sharpe, Isabella Hervey, Nikki Ziering, Fran Cosgrave, Jayne Middlemiss, Calum Best, Paul Danan, Rebecca Loos and Abi Titmuss in 2005
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.’
