Byline: Sam Greenhill
YET another Premier League footballer has won a gagging order to suppress details of his sordid sex life.
The big-name player - described as a 'family man' - allegedly cheated on his wife in a six-month fling with topless model Imogen Thomas.
He met the 28-year-old brunette, who rose to fame as a reality TV contestant in Big Brother, in secret at a string of luxury hotels, it was claimed.
The famous footballer's own agent described the revelations as a shock, saying: 'This is incredible. I can't believe it. He is such a family man.
'I don't know what to say, knowing the closeness of his family.'
Yesterday the player became the latest celebrity to run to the High Court to prevent the public finding out about his alleged philandering.
Meanwhile, Miss Thomas ran to PR guru Max Clifford, who was last night fielding lucrative offers for her kiss-andtell story. He claimed Miss Thomas enjoyed a 'relationship' with the footballer, adding: 'She says she was in love with him and thought he was in love with her.'
Mr Clifford insisted the model had come to him for 'advice and guidance' because she was genuinely upset the story had leaked out.
He said: 'She never had any intention of talking about her private life.'
The High Court order bans the media from identifying the multi-millionaire star, meaning he joins a rogue's gallery of footballers who have exploited the might of the law to hide their alleged marital misdemeanours.
Mr Justice Eady's draconian ruling prevents the media from revealing any identifying features of the footballer.
In effect, it means fans whose sporting idols are raking in millions of pounds in sponsorship deals can never know if the star in the adverts they watch might be concealing a sordid secret.
However, despite the judge's decision, it is likely nothing will stop a fevered guessing game in internet chat rooms as to the player's identity.
When Miss Thomas was initially confronted at one of the hotels where the footballer was staying, she claimed she was either meeting her mother or was attending 'business meetings'.
Asked who the late-evening business meetings were with, she smiled and said: 'That's confidential.' But a friend of the model claimed she was 'completely lovestruck'.
Welsh-born Miss Thomas has previously dated Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe and in the summer of 2006 had a six-week affair with comedian Russell Brand.
She even helped make a TV documentary backing Brand after the 'Sachsgate' scandal in which he was condemned, along with BBC presenter Jonathan Ross, for a stunt taunting veteran actor Andrew Sachs.
Miss Thomas worked as a 'hostess' in a London hotel bar until she rose to prominence in 2006 in the seventh series of Big Brother.
After being evicted from the Big Brother house, she carved out a modelling career and appeared topless in magazines such as Zoo.
She was a cover girl in Maxim magazine and has also posed topless in the Daily Star tabloid, which dubbed her a younger-looking Catherine Zeta-Jones.
Five years ago, a holiday sex tape she recorded with a DJ boyfriend when she was just 20 leaked on to the internet, which she said made her 'feel sick'.
The footballer revelations come after a leading actor obtained an injunction to hush up claims he cheated on his wife with the same prostitute who slept with Wayne Rooney.
The celebrity allegedly paid [pounds sterling]195 for the encounter with 23-year-old call girl Helen Wood - who then sold her story to The Sun.
Comment - Page 14
THE WANDERERS: THE LOVE RATS' SOCCER TEAM
This latest injunction means there is now a whole team who have used their money to go to law in a bid to keep their sordid sexual adventures secret.
This Premier League and international star, who has a long- standing partner and children, won an injunction to stop a woman going public with claims they had had illicit sex.
STEVE McMANAMAN
Married star failed to get an injunction in 2003 to stop public learning of his threesome sex session with a 29-year-old girl he met in a nightclub with team-mate Robbie Fowler.
Premier League star - and a married man with children - who won an injunction to hush up claims he cheated on his wife with another woman.
Married Premier League star and 'family man' who was yesterday granted an injunction to prevent allegations surfacing he cheated with busty Welsh model Imogen Thomas, a former contestant in Big Brother.
ROBBIE FOWLER
Married father of three daughters spent [pounds sterling]50,000 with McManaman on failed injunction in 2003 to try suppressing story of his threesome sex session with a nightclub girl.
International star playing in the Premier League, he won a gagging order covering an alleged 'blackmail plot' over a group sex incident with three Swedish women at a Las Vegas hotel which was filmed on a mobile phone.
GARRY FLITCROFT
Former Blackburn midfielder won a 2001 injunction to hush up affairs with a lap dancer and a nursery nurse - but lost anonymity a year later when it emerged the married father had himself negotiated with a newspaper to sell his story.
DAVID BECKHAM
Ex-England captain sought an injunction to stop Rebecca Loos giving an interview about their alleged four-month affair to Sky News in 2004. No such gagging order was granted and his former personal assistant went on to broadcast the claims.
JOHN TERRY
Sacked as England captain after failing to secure an injunction over allegations he cheated on his wife with a team-mate's former girlfriend Vanessa Perroncel. A judge ruled Terry was more concerned about losing his lucrative sponsorship deals than his privacy.
ASHLEY COLE
Chelsea and England star issued legal warnings and doomed injunction bids to block allegations he slept with other women - which eventually led to his divorce from singer wife Cheryl.
MANAGER
Adulterous football Premier League coach who had an affair with a married woman then won an injunction gagging her cuckolded husband from talking about it.
Multi-millionaire international with children who obtained an injunction to ban photographs and accusations he cheated on his partner.
CAPTION(S):
Imogen Thomas: Says she was in love with the man
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