Wayne Lineker's wild life – jail and Love Island romance to 'most selfied' man in world
Wayne Lineker has gone from selling fruit and veg at a market stall to becoming "the most selfied man in the world" – but not without his share of controversies.
The 62-year-old entrepreneur made headlines recently when he was filmed being knocked out cold while defending a woman outside Ibiza's Eden Bar.
It's little surprise it was caught on camera, given Lineker previously revealed he had taken up to 600 selfies daily, quipping that he might just be "the world's most selfied man".
On the ContentCast podcast, he shared: "People started asking pictures back in about 2012 and I thought 'Oh this is fun, this is cool,' and then the next year it got to be more, and then the next year I got more and the next and now it's the thing you've not been to Ibiza unless you've got a picture of Wayne Lineker."
It's not only the general public who are eager to pose with Wayne; his clubs have become a summer staple for footballers, with stars like Jack Grealish frequently visiting his Spanish venues, reports the Daily Star.
Wayne acknowledges that his rise to fame was helped by his brother, football legend Gary Lineker. Explaining his rise, he said: "I wanted to move away from the markets, and I wanted to move abroad but I didn't know what to do. At that time my brother was super-famous; he was scoring goals, he was captain of England, and I thought 'I have the same second name so why don't I use it? ' So I opened a bar called it Lineker's."
The immediate success of Lineker's allowed Wayne to expand his empire, opening a second venue in Marbella before making the leap to Ibiza with his wildly popular Ocean Beach club.
However, his relentless pursuit of publicity for his businesses has led to some cringe-worthy moments. He once posted an awkward advert inviting young women to apply to be his girlfriend, which he labelled as "banter", but it resulted in widespread ridicule.
At the time, one typical comment read: "Has Wayne Lineker been hacked or is he just being himself? Hard to say", while another quipped: "I don't know what's worse, a 58-year-old grandad seeking a wife younger than his daughter, or the fact Wayne Lineker considers Waitrose ready meals to be cooking."
Wayne has always been a figure of controversy. In 2006, he was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for a £220,000 tax fraud.
The court heard how he systematically smuggled cash into Britain using a "tried and tested" system, involving unsuspecting family and friends as "mules."
In addition to being a familiar face on reality show Celebs Go Dating : The Mansion, Wayne has previously been linked romantically to model Danielle Sandhu and Chloe Ferry from Geordie Shore, although she insists they are just good friends. Wayne also claimed to have dated Love Island winner Ekin-Su before she shot to fame.
Wayne Lineker has candidly opened up about the rocky road of his romantic endeavours, saying: "Been married twice, divorced twice. Been engaged twice and broke up twice."
Despite the ups and downs in love, Wayne is a dedicated father to his four children, Duane, Sean, Freddie, and Tia.
The entrepreneur, known for his preference for younger women, faced an uncomfortable moment last November when he was met with chants of "paedo" from a 12,000-strong crowd at Wembley Arena during Peter Crouch's podcast live event. This came after a joke went wrong where he pretended to be engaged to reality star Chloe Ferry, who is 33 years his junior.
Chloe Ferry defended Wayne, expressing her disgust at the label thrown at him: "'Paedophile is such a strong word to call someone. It is absolutely disgusting that he is getting called that when all his friends and family have to read that about him."
Family ties also saw some strain as Wayne revealed a falling out with his brother Gary Lineker over Gary's ex-girlfriend Danielle Bux. Nevertheless, Wayne's affection for his sibling remains, as evidenced by a nostalgic photo shared online, accompanied by the caption: "Same mum same dad just different journeys."
For Wayne, like many in the hospitality industry, Covid was a rough period. He shared his optimism with BBC in 2022 as lockdown measures across Europe started easing, expressing his anticipation of a restriction-free summer after a couple of "pretty terrible" years.
He revealed: "This year it's full at three in the afternoon - it never used to be full until five or six. People obviously really missed that."
"That makes me sit back, smile and think 'thank goodness we're back'."
With the return of holidaymakers comes the resurgence of selfie-seekers. No sooner does Ocean Beach open its doors than there's a rush towards Wayne's VIP table: "I compare it to Mickey Mouse at Disneyland when he comes out and everyone runs to get a picture," he quips.
"But I'm the Mickey Mouse of adult Disneyland. I literally have to plan my day around it because it's got so intense, 500-600 pictures a day."
