Stunning model Tabby Brown, who dated the striker for seven months, opens up about his bizarre lifestyle and the real reason he left Manchester City
Mario Balotelli’s ex-girlfriend has revealed the truth about life with the mixed-up soccer star.
Stunning model Tabby Brown, who dated the striker for seven months, opens up about his bizarre lifestyle and the real reason he left Manchester City for Italian giants AC Milan.
Balotelli, who was paid £120,000 a week, told Tabby he was miserable in Manchester, hated the weather and feared losing his “top-dog” status at the club.
And she reveals he had long been dreaming of the hero’s welcome he received after his £19.5million move to Milan this week.
As Balotelli made his debut in a training ground friendly match yesterday, Tabby, 28, offered a fascinating insight into his complex mind and wild antics.
She said: “The world has always seen Mario as a stroppy, mega-rich footballer… a genius on the pitch but also an arrogant show-off.
“I’ve seen a very different side of him – sensitive, loving and, believe it or not, very shy.
“Sometimes he reminded me of a mixed-up teenager. He means well but then his massive ego and hot temper get him into all sorts of trouble.
“I really fell for Mario – against my better judgment. He told me he wanted us to settle down and have a family.
“Then I found out he was having a baby with his ex, there were constant stories about him partying with other women, and all the ‘she’s just a friend’ texts.
“So I ended it in November. Mario couldn’t believe it and thought he could sweet-talk me into going back to him.
“When he realised there was no chance he took it very badly. His friends said he was angry and messed up by it.
“But that’s because Mario has never been dumped by a woman before. He’s used to getting exactly what he wants.”
Balotelli’s off-field antics made headlines from the moment he arrived at City from Milan in August 2010.
A car crash, a dart-throwing prank, training ground bust-ups and bizarre shopping trips and the night he set his house on fire with a rocket only endeared him more to fans.
They honoured Balo’s quirky lifestyle with his very own terrace anthem.
And Tabby could certainly have added a verse or two of her own.
For the dark-haired beauty from South London got to see it all.
Tabby, who has modelled for magazines, in ad campaigns here and in the US and appeared in Snoop Dogg and Dizzee Rascal music videos, first met the star in a nightclub in 2011.
He added her as a friend on Facebook then began pestering her for a date.
Tabby said: “I’d vowed never to get involved with a footballer and reading Mario’s antics only convinced me more.
“I said ‘I’m NOT dating you – you’re a spoiled brat!’ but he laughed and told me I had to get to know him.
“It went on for months. We began having longer chats. He was funny and bright and I started thinking ‘why not give him a chance?’
“I agreed to go up and see him in Manchester when I got home from a trip to America.
Later, when we’d been going out for a while, I asked him why he’d pursued me so hard. He just shrugged and said ‘Because you’re the only girl who’s ever said no to me’.
Tabby’s first “date” with Mario proved rather a shock.
He was playing Nintendo Wii with his brother Enoch and two pals. But after they left he revealed his gentlemanly side.
“I stayed for three days – in the spare room,” said Tabby.
“He didn’t try it on and we only kissed on the day when I went back to London.”
The pair didn’t become lovers until Tabby flew to Poland to see Mario during Euro 2012 in June.
Back in London she saw reports that his former lover Raffaella Fico was pregnant with his child.
“Mario made it clear he would support his child but was no longer close to his ex,” said Tabby.
“After the tournament he went off to Ibiza with the lads.
“There were pictures of him with girls but he said there was nothing going on and I didn’t mind him letting his hair down.”
Tabby said despite all the stories about Mario’s wealth she never saw him splashing the cash.
“He was really careful with his money,” she said.
“He said he didn’t want to spoil his brother and little sister and was worried people would think he was buying their friendship.
“A friend once told me that he gives almost half his salary away to charity.”
Back in Manchester, Tabby got to grips with the weird world of Balotelli.
“We were out in his Bentley once and he got stopped for speeding,” she said.
“But the policeman’s face lit up when he saw it was Mario and let him off in return for an autograph!
“Mario didn’t turn a hair. It seemed a perfectly reasonable deal to him.”
Tabby still has a great deal of affection for her eccentric ex – but she’s not sure he feels the same.
He thinks she cheated on him with US R&B star Trey Songz.
Tabby said: “Trey and I are good friends. After I’d ended it with Mario he saw a photo of us on Facebook.
“He was bitter and couldn’t accept I wanted to move on – but it was just his pride that was hurt.
“I don’t think our split hastened his move. He told me he’d never felt settled in Manchester.
“Now he’s back, getting the superstar treatment he thrives on I hope he’ll be truly happy.
The fireworks
Accident-prone Mario told Tabby the full story behind the infamous firework incident at his rented home.
She said it happened after police warned him burglars were targeting the area.
She added: “So Mario decided they should warn off any raiders by blasting fireworks out of the windows.
“His brother’s mate was in the bathroom taking aim with his firework in a bucket but it suddenly went off and ricocheted off the walls, setting the place ablaze.
“I was trying not to laugh but Mario was very annoyed.”
The playboy
Mario has never been short of female admirers.
Tabby said: “He told me he could send a woman a text with just a full stop in it and they’d be offering themselves on a plate.”
He began dating model Raffaella Fico in 2010. They split last year after claims he cheated with Jennifer Thompson, the Wayne Rooney escort.
In December, Raffaella had Mario’s baby daughter.
The hero
AC MILAN fans gave Mario a hero’s welcome on his return to Italy.
On Wednesday night he celebrated with them as he left a restaurant.
And within hours of signing the £19.5million deal yesterday he scored for his new club in a friendly.
Earlier, he thanked Manchester City and boss Roberto Mancini.
But Tabby said he was miserable while he was in England and hated the weather.
The romantic
TABBY finally fell for the Balotelli charm after he spent months wooing her.
She visited him for their first date and says: “I stayed for three days – in the spare room.
“He didn’t try it on and we only kissed on the day I went back to London.
It felt like an old-fashioned courtship.
“Mario was so respectful and wanted to get to know me, which is why I fell for him.”
The clown
TABBY said: “Mario’s got a schoolboy sense of humour – lots of poo and fart jokes.
He absolutely loved Gangnam Style and kept trying to do the dance badly.
“For such a brilliant player he can be a little bit clumsy and unco-ordinated – like the time he couldn’t get his training bib on.
“And he can’t swim either. We’d go down to his big pool in the basement and he’d just get in and splash about a bit.”
The mama’s boy
ACCORDING to Tabby, Mario is a devoted mummy’s boy who would still get a ticking-off from adoptive mum Silvia.
Last year, he got conjunctivitis which doctors blamed on him wearing contact lenses on the pitch.
But Tabby said: “When his mum heard about it she rang Mario and gave him a severe telling-off, saying: ‘It’s because you don’t wash your hands properly’.”
The egotist
IT WASN’T just his bedroom conquests that brought out Mario’s arrogant side.
He was delighted by the adulation he got after his spectacular performances for Italy in Euro 2012.
And Tabby said: “Mario Googled himself obsessively to see how popular he was.
“He loved the web craze where people were photo-shopping the ‘Hulk’ pose he did after scoring for Italy in the Euro semi-final and was beside himself when it made it on to Fifa 13.”
The obsessions
MARIO spends up to five hours a time playing FIFA football on his Nintendo Wii.
Tabby said: “He took it SO seriously.
“When he won he’d be leaping round the room, hugging and kissing me, but if he lost he’d have a tantrum and once even smashed up the console.”
He also has a bizarre diet.
Tabby says: “He eats the same meal for lunch and dinner, seven days a week – pasta carbonara, spare ribs with, if possible, a veal escalope in breadcrumbs.”
Any comment, Mario?
Mino Raiola, Balotelli’s agent, last night said: “Listen I will tell you in English ok? Because my English is very bad, ok?
“I never gave a f*** about what you wrote and I will not give a f*** now what you are writing.
“So I don’t give a f*** what you write or what you will write in the future.
“Write anything that you want. Ok. Ciao.”