Inside Wayne Bridge v John Terry ‘affair’ row from handshake saga to wife’s Dubai escape & players in ‘Team Bridge’ tops

IT IS one of the most gripping sporting scandals in memory. 

John Terry’s alleged affair with the ex-girlfriend of his former pal and team-mate Wayne Bridge, Vanessa Perroncel.

Fifteen years on, all three involved remain unavoidably linked by the events that unfolded.

For Terry, his reputation would never be the same.

For Bridge, it arguably remains what he is most famous for. 

So much so the feud has just been thrown back into the forefront of the public’s consciousness.

YouTuber KSI trash-talked Bridge with taunts about Terry to set up a Misfits Boxing fight that the former defender has since withdrawn from because the “deeply personal comments crossed a line”.

But aside from the allegations of the actual affair – always denied by both Terry and Perroncel – the entire saga led to a whole load of mad moments.

From helicopter flyovers to T-shirts of support, from YouGov polls to a sociologist’s paper –  here is the bizarre story of what went on.

Bridge started dating Perroncel in 2005, the year after meeting the French model and actress when she was working in a Soho nightclub.

The couple had a son together, Jaydon, in 2006 and were good friends with Chelsea team-mate Terry, who married childhood sweetheart Toni in June 2007. 

But Bridge and Perroncel split up in the summer of 2009 following his transfer from Chelsea to Manchester City in the January.

Then Terry started visiting Perroncel and son Jaydon at their Surrey home – although she has maintained it was purely “friendship” and “cannot be described as an affair”. 

Initially, the press were blocked from reporting on the case after Terry’s lawyers got an injunction imposed.

But it was lifted in January 2010 when the judge claimed the injunction was put in place not to safeguard Terry’s privacy but “to protect [his] reputation, in particular with sponsors”. 

And with that, the floodgates opened. 

The saga really was the talk of Britain.

As the story dominated the front pages of the newspapers, Toni and the three-year-old twins flew out to Dubai to get away from it all – though she was soon snapped in her designer bikini relaxing by the swimming pool.

JT would eventually join them when the dust finally settled – but that would not be for a while.

Toni faithfully stood by her man – despite the views of the British public.

That is because a YouGov poll was launched to ask what she should do, with just SEVEN PER CENT supporting the idea of her taking him back. 

Within football, there was a real split – even inside the Chelsea dressing room Terry still led and Bridge had already left.

Messages of support were sent to Bridge – both digitally but also literally.

If you acted like Terry did in Argentina, you’d be dead

Carlos Tevez

His City team-mates Carlos Tevez, Stephen Ireland and Nigel de Jong all wore ‘Team Bridge’ T-shirts under their kits for a match.

Tevez himself was not afraid to make his views clear.

The Argentine said: “If you acted like [Terry did] in Argentina, you’d be dead.

“In my opinion, Terry has no moral code for what he did to Bridge. In my neighbourhood, if you do that, you lose your legs.”

On February 5, Terry was stripped of the England captaincy he had inherited from David Beckham – and Sky News were determined to keep on top of the dramatic showdown with boss Fabio Capello.

A helicopter with TV cameras followed Terry on his journey all the way to Wembley.

Once at the FA’s HQ, his meeting with no-nonsense Capello lasted just 12 minutes and he was shown the door having handed back the armband – which he would have reinstated the following year. 

Capello said: “It’s not normal, what happened between Terry and Bridge. I have never experienced it.”

And the major decision even forced the Prime Minister to weigh into the row.

Gordon Brown was quizzed upon leaving a cabinet meeting and replied: “He had to make a decision quickly.

“He couldn’t let it go on. But he alone can know what effect this is having in the dressing room.”

And the rise of social media meant plenty of fans and organisations could have their say with very little repercussions. 

But one of the most surprising tweets came from the popular football stats account, OptaJoe.

They wrote: “John Terry has scored more often away from home than at home. Cheeky.”

Bridge quit the England team on February 25, citing his place in the squad was “untenable and potentially divisive”.

And that decision only ramped up the excitement and anticipation for Chelsea’s home clash with City just two days later.

‘PECULIAR KIND OF NATIONAL TRAUMA’

For a match that would have major implications on both the title race and City’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League, all of the pre-match talk was about two men, two former close friends set to face off for the first time since the scandal broke.

One question was on everyone’s lips: would Wayne Bridge shake John Terry’s hand?

City chiefs were still urging Bridge in the tunnel to do so, wanting to avoid pouring more fuel on the fire.

Bookmakers were offering various odds on the incident – one having every City player to refuse Terry’s hand at 7-2 and another having either player to receive a card for a tackle on the other at 10-1. 

A ‘Team Terry’ banner was displayed at the Shed End of Stamford Bridge as the players walked out and lined up – then came the key moment.

In one of the most famous snubs of all time, Terry put out his hand and Bridge completely ignored it.

It was the defining image of the entire narrative.

A narrative which – combined with Terry’s racism trial with Anton Ferdinand that was triggered by taunting over the Perroncel accusations – led to Dr Neil Ewen writing an entire paper on the topic.

The sociologist labelled the two controversies as a “peculiar kind of national trauma”.

Trauma seems the right word, too, for the personal impact and toll it took for everyone involved.

For Terry, despite his undeniable footballing prowess, his reputation as a bloke was shredded in the eyes of the public.

For Perroncel, her life would never be the same – her name still intertwined between the two ex-Chelsea defenders. 

For Bridge, his football career remembered for something he did on the Stamford Bridge pitch on February 27, 2010 before the referee even blew for kick-off to start the match.

And a decade-and-a-half of vile and hellish abuse and vitriol, most recently from KSI, despite his best attempts to move on and put it all behind him, sharing two children with his The Saturdays singer wife Frankie Sandford. 

Bridge said: “The most disappointing aspect of it all is that I’m probably more famous for not shaking someone’s hand than I am for playing football. 

“I get abuse walking down the street. I still don’t think anyone knows the full story.”

Somewhat ironically, the Bridge family, the Terry family and Perroncel with son Jaydon all still live in close proximity in Surrey. 

But long gone are the days of friendship – instead replaced with an awkward ongoing silence both in private and in public.

The two former mates and team-mates still refuse to speak to each other.

And understandably, none of Terry, Bridge nor Perroncel want to talk about the alleged affair that captured the nation.