An England icon allegedly sent a former Big Brother contestant explicit texts, requested topless pics and asked if her “tremendous” boobs were “falsies”
A married Premier League icon found himself embroiled in a scandal after allegedly asking for 20 topless photos from an ex-reality TV star.
Michael Owen became a household name thanks to his goals for Liverpool and England, including a legendary strike for the Three Lions against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup, when the then-wonderkid was just 18-years-old. One of the greatest forwards of his generation, he went on to win the 2001 Ballon d’Or after the Reds’ treble cup winning season that year and was a poster boy of British football, thanks in part to his clean-cut image.
Moves to Real Madrid and Newcastle United followed, before a controversial switch to Liverpool’s bitter rivals Manchester United, where he won the Premier League under Sir Alex Ferguson in 2010-11. But the now TNT Sports and Amazon Prime Video pundit’s reputation as a wholesome family man took a major hit due to a scandal involving a busty reality TV star.
Owen, who turns 46 today (Sunday, December 14) has been married to his childhood sweetheart Louise Bonsall for two decades, with four children together.
But in the summer of 2021, he was exposed for allegedly sexting and requesting nude photos from Rebecca Jane, and arranging to meet her at a horse-racing event, according to the Mirror.
Rebecca, who once worked as a Marilyn Monroe lookalike, became famous for her private investigation firm The Lady Detective Agency, before starring in Channel 5’s Big Brother in 2017. She lasted 18 days in the house, before becoming the third housemate to be evicted.
Owen allegedly asked her to send him 20 topless pictures, after instructing the mum-of-two to share images for him to “judge” that “leave nothing to the imagination”. The ex-Stoke City striker was said to have sent her hundreds of text messages.
It was claimed Owen told her he viewed one particular photo, featuring Rebecca in a see-through top, no less than 65 times. And it was also alleged he proposed they arrange a meeting at the racecourse after becoming fascinated by her figure, even enquiring whether her breasts were “falsies”.
Owen, who was reported to have boasted that many people consider him an “angel” before actually encountering him in person, began following Rebecca on X, then Twitter, in March 2021.
Rebecca, who regularly appeared as a contributor on ITV programme This Morning, then started trading messages with him. A friend claimed she was initially delighted to hear from one of her childhood idols, but the conversation swiftly became sexual in nature.
During one of his journeys away from home, Owen supposedly requested more photographs, saying: “Come on then, fire them through. It’s a long boring trip to London so I need something to do… leave nothing to the imagination. And I’ll advise on the suitability of them for social media – hopefully none of them are suitable.”
After she complied with his request, the man who scored 40 goals for his country in 89 appearances, was said to have replied: “Tremendous by the way.”
Pleading for more, he was said to have added: “Surely you’ve got pics saved up. I thought I was going to be judging dozens?”
Jane subsequently forwarded another image, with Owen then said to have responded: “Well you went straight in there with a pic of your t*** so there’s no point taking a back step now.”
The dad-of-four reportedly added: “Hmmm. Not bad. Great t***. Definitely a no-go for social media. How about send me about 20? That’d be good.”
In another chat, Rebecca was reported to have sent a photo of her in the bath – after Owen told her he was sitting in the lounge with his family.
Owen, who wed his childhood love Louise in June 2005, previously disclosed in 2014 that he was “staring into an abyss called divorce” after retiring from football.
However, following marriage guidance sessions, he said five years later: “Now that my life-changing liaison with the idea of splitting up with Louise and the family in 2014 has passed, I’m pretty sure everyone who knows me will say that I’m now a completely different person – in the best possible way.”
The Mirror reported Rebecca had told Owen she was a fan of his as a teenager during an early exchange on Twitter, to which he replied saying he had made her “inner 13-year-old girl’s dreams come true”.
A friend of Rebecca said: “She was thrilled when they started mess-aging. Flattered. Who wouldn’t be?
“It didn’t take long for messages to turn dirty. He was commenting on her pictures and said he’d looked at one in a see-through top 65 times.
“Rebecca knew she was flirting with a married man, but went along with it. She knows some people will think it’s bad, but she’s a single girl. She’s very outgoing, but she was surprised by how open he was.
“He was asking about her boobs, if they were real or ‘falsies’ and some of the messages were very explicit.”
In one early message Owen allegedly wrote: “I love the way everyone says I’m an angel then within a minute of meeting me can’t believe how wrong they were.”
Owen, a racehorse breeder, was said to have invited Rebecca to meet him at the races, saying: “How far are you from Doncaster? I’m there in a couple of weeks for a couple of days so if it was close I’d have suggested we meet for a debate.”
Rebecca replied: “Sounds like a plan.” But the rendezvous didn’t happen because Rebecca expected a proper invitation would follow.
On the day, Owen was said to have messaged: “Are you nearly here, by the way?”
Rebecca’s friend said: “She wasn’t sure about meeting him, which is why she didn’t pursue it. But he continued to message her and even tried calling her at 3am.”
She said Owen had also spoken to Rebecca on the phone, adding: “It was always when he was on his own. He’d check the coast was clear before speaking to her. He joked with her about her accent.”
Rebecca asked what intrigued him about her, to which Owen allegedly replied: “Your past. Your present. Your posts with your t*** out.”
The Mirror said Owen sent Rebecca his number and asked her to use WhatsApp as other people had access to his social media accounts. But he allegedly warned her rules applied, saying: “No unannounced calls.”
Rebecca was also reported to have asked Owen whether he had been with many women. He was said to have replied: “I’d say it’s pretty naive to as I’ve been with my partner virtually all my life and if I was s******* left right and centre I’m pretty sure I’d have been found out by now.”
Speaking about the scandal for the first time in 2022, Rebecca claimed 5ft 8in Owen told her “his marriage was over” and “fed her a load of rubbish” during their six-weeks of contact.
She said: “The story that Michael span me was that they were not really married and it was a sham. He said it was a marriage of convenience for the sake of appearances and to keep their racehorse business going.
“He told me his marriage was over, it was all a big façade and he wasn’t really married any more. I should have perhaps investigated his situation a bit more and been more cautious — but I took him at face value.
“He fed me a load of rubbish over a six-week period when I was in communication with him and he wanted to meet me. But it should be remembered that I actually turned him down — I turned him down quite a bit and didn’t meet him.”
“To be honest, he didn’t meet my height requirements.”
Writing for the Burnley Express in her native Lancashire, Rebecca later said how she had been “flattered by the attention” from an England footballer.
She said: “When things became a little more serious, I backed out. I made a catalogue of errors in this whole situation. I sent photographs to a married man. I shouldn’t have done that. I should have kept communications platonic.
“I’ve heard a lot of people tell me over the past couple of weeks that ‘you were the single one, it wasn’t your responsibility’. I think in my subconscious I believed that too, at the time.
“Looking at it now, I had a moral duty to just be a decent person and not cross that line with someone who is married.
“But ultimately, I should have kept the communication between ourselves, because speaking to other people led to the story ending up on the front of a national newspaper.”
It was not the first time Rebecca had flirted with a sports star. In 2019 she is said to have exchanged “filthy” texts with rugby ace Ben Foden, just days before he hooked up with Jackie Belanoff Smith – who he wed two weeks later.
Twice-married Rebecca, who has a law degree and was once a trainee solicitor, was later appointed deputy leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP). She resigned in January 2024.
Owen has never commented on the allegations.