Nancy Dell'Olio

Annunziata Dell'Olio was born in New York as the eldest of four children; when she was five her family moved back to Italy, to the town of Bisceglie in the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani and region of Apulia.[1]

In June 2005, Dell'Olio hosted the show Footballers' Cribs on MTV. She gave viewers tours of the luxury homes of English football players. "Nancy is a dream signing for us," said series executive producer Sean Murphy. "She's the first lady of football, so is in the perfect position to give us a real insider's view."[2]

In June 2007, Dell'Olio had an autobiography published titled My Beautiful Game, better known in publishing circles as My Life On The Game.[3]

In December 2008, Dell'Olio was interviewed on the BBC news analysis programme Newsnight to talk about a new range of lingerie she was launching but, according to interviewer Jeremy Paxman, "I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about".[4] The programme swiftly moved on to the next item.

In September 2011, Dell'Olio took part in the ninth series of BBC1 show Strictly Come Dancing.[5] On 30 October, she and partner Anton du Beke were eliminated.[6] The Daily Telegraph reported that Dell'Olio clod hopped around the show. Dell'Olio reported it as "The best season Strictly ever had; everyone say so".[7]

Dell'Olio presented her own one woman show, co scripted by comedian Diane Spencer, called Rainbows from Diamonds at Edinburgh Fringe in 2014.

On 5 January 2016, it was revealed that Dell'Olio would be one of the sixteen housemates competing in the seventeenth series of Celebrity Big Brother. She entered on Day 1. She became the second housemate to be evicted on Day 11.

In the end of January 2016, Dell'Olio was interviewed by the Daily Telegraph, in which she mentioned she was starting her own brand of limoncello.[8] Dell'Olio aimed to start her new company through crowd funding investment, though only €1,865 of the required €70,000 was raised. The project went ahead. Dell'Olio's aim was not to be involved in the day to day running of the company, but only to act as ambassador for it.

Dell'Olio has visited British Red Cross projects in the United Kingdom and in Kenya. She stated, "I have always been a great admirer of the principles and values behind the work of the Red Cross. The thing that really impressed me is that the Red Cross seems to go everywhere, more than any other charity."[9]

Dell'Olio is the chairwoman of Truce International, the British based charity she founded with Eriksson, which aims to use football as a means of uniting people in areas affected by war.[10] Dell'Olio is a member of the Accademia Apulia UK.[11]

In May 1998, Dell'Olio was introduced to Sven-Göran Eriksson, the manager of the Lazio football team, and they began a relationship six months later. In January 2001, Eriksson became manager of the England team, and he and Dell'Olio relocated to London. In the beginning of 2002, Eriksson had a short lived affair with television presenter Ulrika Jonsson, but he returned to Dell'Olio.

In August 2004, Eriksson had an affair with The Football Association secretary Faria Alam.[12] As Alam had also had an affair with FA CEO, Mark Palios, when the media got hold of the story, it became high profile and made leading headlines in newspapers and on television. Dell'Olio was upset, but chose to stay with Eriksson. The couple eventually split up in August 2007.

As of May 2011, Dell'Olio was in a relationship with Sir Trevor Nunn,[13] but by the end of the year, it was reported the relationship had ended.[14] In December 2011, she lost a High Court libel action against Associated Newspapers, publishers of the newspaper Daily Mail, over an article that referred to her as a "man eater".[14]

In June 2016, Dell'Olio was photographed at a fashion show in Hyde Park, London with taut new features and not looking like her former self, five months after she had appeared on Celebrity Big Brother. In the words of the Daily Mirror, "she looks unrecognisable".[15]

• Nancy Dell'Olio on IMDb