Imogen Thomas admits she's been "tempted" to reveal married footballer's name
Big Brother beauty Imogen Thomas today admitted that she has been tempted to reveal the name of the married Premier League footballer she had an affair with.
The tearful 28-year-old says she is “hated” by the public and is so upset by the backlash that she has considered outing the star.
Her comments come 24 hours after she was accused of blackmailing the top footballer for £100,000 over their affair.
The allegation came as a High Court judge explained why he had extended the original injunction barring the Premier League star from being named.
Naming the footballer could land the ex-reality star in jail.
In an interview on This Morning, host Phillip Schofield asked Imogen: "Are you tempted just to say his name out loud?"
Imogen replied: "You know I'm so upset by what I've been called, I've been so tempted just to say 'yeah, it is that person' because why should I be taking all this flack and him get away with everything basically.
“His life is as normal... I don't know what he's going through at home, none of us know."
Talking about the reaction she has received from the public, Imogen added: "Well I haven't really been out yet but I'm absolutely hated.
“I've had lots of football fans telling me to die on Twitter. And yes, I can close my Twitter account down but why should I be doing that as well.
“I try not to read the stuff I mean I will not read the newspapers from now on - it's just too upsetting. My mum is in bits over this.”
Following yesterday’s High Court judgement, Imogen stormed: “Yet again, my name and my reputation are being trashed while the man I had a relationship with is able to hide. Where’s the fairness in this? What about my reputation?”
She added: “If this is the way privacy injunctions are supposed to work, then there’s something seriously wrong with the law.”
High Court judge Mr Justice Eady said there was evidence to suggest the model made a number of demands in a showdown with the player at a hotel in April, four months after their fling ended.
The judgement said how the star refused to part with the money, but gave her a signed football shirt and match day tickets instead.
The revelations emerged as the judge revealed the reasons why he had granted the injunction last month.
Glamour model Imogen claimed the relationship lasted six months, but the footballer insists they only met three times.
Justice Eady explained in the judgement that the court had to consider the player’s privacy rights under European law.
He said after hotel meetings this year with Ms Thomas, the footballer started to “smell a rat”.
Various text messages from her led him to believe she was thinking of selling her story.
“She told him she wanted, or ‘needed’, a payment from him of £55,000,” said the judge.
He added that after a couple of other reluctant meetings the player began to suspect he was being
“set up” so photographs could be taken.
On April 12, the judge said, the footballer told her he wanted nothing more to do with her.
Justice Eady said: “By this time, however, she made it clear that she was looking for £110,000.”
He added: “The evidence appeared to strongly suggest that the footballer was being blackmailed, although that is not how he put it himself.”
