After their secret dates became public, Jack Grealish ended six weeks of a six week affair with Emily Atack.
The England footballer, who is said to have become ‘besotted’ by the former Inbetweeners star, decided that he wanted to stay with long-term girlfriend Sasha Attwood and is now battling to save their relationship.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Grealish cruelly cut all contact with Ms Atack by ‘ghosting’ her – suddenly ending all contact without explanation.
Grealish’s love life has been headline news for days. Yesterday, friends of Ms Atack, 31, told how she hasn’t spoken to him or received any form of message in the eight days since a red-top tabloid revealed they had been on a string of dates together.
‘Jack The Lad’ Grealish won a new fan base over the summer for his performances for England during the Euros
He is said to have become ‘besotted’ by the former Inbetweeners star Emily Atack (pictured) but has ended their six-week fling
Ms Atack was also ‘surprised’ to see that the 26-year-old, who is paid £230,000 a week by Manchester City, had also been linked to Love Island contestant Amber Gill. One friend said: ‘Emily has heard nothing from him.’
Ms. Atack looked glum during Friday’s night out with Martha, her sister, and several friends in Central London. Dressed in a short black dress and brown knee-high boots, she left Soho’s Dean Street Townhouse where she was drinking white wine with the women before dining at its restaurant.
Meanwhile, Ms Attwood, a model who has dated Grealish for ten years, is still understood to be living with him in Manchester but is said to be ‘devastated’.
Despite friends urging her to dump her boyfriend, she has so far not done so, with sources speculating that it has not been an easy decision as she is so close to Grealish’s mum Karen and his 18-year-old sister.
The news that the footballer –Britain’s first £100 million player –has decided to calm his romantic adventures will come as a relief to his management, who are wary of him risking his lucrative off-field commercial opportunities.
For ‘Jack The Lad’ Grealish won a new fan base over the summer for his performances for England during the Euros.
With his dashing style, cheeky persona and trademark headband – and especially his toned legs – Birmingham-born Grealish has become the guilty pleasure of many middle-aged women.
Among them is Radio 2 DJ Zoe Ball, 50, who has confessed that she had been caught ‘looking at Jack Grealish’s legs’ while on air.
An Instagram page set up by a 45-year-old superfan in honour of Grealish’s legs earlier this year now boasts almost 11,000 followers.
Sasha Attwood (pictured), a model who has dated Grealish for ten years, is still understood to be living with him in Manchester but is said to be ‘devastated’
Lucy, the woman behind the account, believes there is a sociological reason behind his appeal as he reminds women born in the 1970s and early 1980s of their time as teenagers – and the floppy-haired boys they dated at the time. His extravagant fashion sense is a way to evoke these memories.
She says: ‘He also oozes charisma. It is a cheeky, cute little thing that is passionate but is more.
‘For women around my age, Jack is nostalgic. It reminds me of each of my boy friends when I was young. Wayne, Jason and Martin are all rolled together in one.
‘Jack is a flashback to the 1990s – a time when I was young, slim and excited about life. Jack is from a time when life was so good. I remember going out to bars with friends wearing Bermuda shorts and bucket caps, just like Jack. He reminds women my age of the good old days as he lives through the 1990s revival.’
Grealish’s appeal has been likened to that of the ultimate soccer heart-throb – David Beckham. But whether he can enjoy the same longevity will rely on his army of female fans continuing to see him as a adorable boy-next-door type – and not a ‘ghosting’ love-cheat.