‘I went on date with Miss California – she changed when Ronaldo tapped my shoulder’
Danny Simpson has explained how the presence of Cristiano Ronaldo changed the fate of a date during a trip to Los Angeles – after he was approached by his former team-mate in a restaurant.
Simpson was colleagues with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner at Manchester United and their chance meeting came after their respective Premier League and European Championship triumphs.
Speaking on the Under the Cosh podcast about what followed Leicester’s title winning campaign, Simpson said: “I’ve got a story about that summer in LA.
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“We went to LA on a pre-season tour, playing against PSG, we were thinking ‘what are we doing here’ we normally go Dublin and we’re now in LA.”
Having explained that he was asked on a date through a friend of a former winner of Miss California which was formed in 1952, Simpson snuck out the team hotel before jumping in a car to a steak restaurant in central LA.
He continued: “Meets Miss California right, start having dinner and I swear to god it was going w**k. She must’ve been thinking: ‘who’s this lad, I can’t understand what he’s saying he’s from Salford’.”
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Having gone as far as to describe the disastrous date as being painful, that all changed when Ronaldo spotted him from across the room.
He added: “It was painful right, but anyway it weren’t going great and I got a little tap on my shoulder. I’ve looked up and it’s only (Cristiano) Ronaldo. He’s gone ‘Simmo’ and I’ve gone ‘Ronny!’
“I’ve got up and given him a little hug and that. Anyway we had a little chat because we’re obviously in pre-season and he’s won the Euros (with Portugal) so he’s on an extended break.”
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With Simpson explaining how his date recognised Ronaldo, he said: “I’ve sat back down and she’s gone ‘how do you know Ronaldo?’
“I’ve played it down and said ‘I used to play with him’ like it was nothing. From that second she completely changed.”
He concluded: “Honestly it was literally a complete different person all because Ronaldo said hello to me so cheers Ronny.”
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Simpson added that the vibe just wasn’t there before his chance meeting with the current Al-Nassr forward, saying that he hasn’t yet had a chance to thank him in person.
The 36-year-old played just eight times in total for United before joining Newcastle on a permanent deal, with six of those coming alongside Ronaldo.
With the right-back leaving Leicester in 2019, he had spells with Huddersfield Town and Bristol City, saying in December that he was looking for a new club.
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