Former football star John Fashanu has sensationally revealed that he is thinking of legal action and planning a divorce from his third wife, whom he alleged ‘misinformed him’ regarding issues with his daughter, to whom he apologised for his actions towards her.
Sports247 gathered that the 63-year-old Nigerian-born England ex-international, who made his best marks with Wimbledon FC, for which he scored more than 100 goals and helped win the 1988 English FA Cup, further denied some negative claims that his daughter allegedly made about him earlier this summer.
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Fashanu, who presented a TV show, Gladiators alongside Ulrika Jonsson after retiring from active football due to injury, has been married three times and is now seeking peace with his daughter, Amal, because he believes ‘life is too short for division’ and ‘family is everything.’
While serving a strong hint that he and his daughter are trying to repair things, Fashanu, who also hosted a football reality show sponsored by Oceanic Bank in Nigeria some years back, took to social media to reveal his latest plans, among which is to include his daughter more in his business ventures.
A report by the UK’s Daily Mail revealed, “Former England footballer and Gladiators legend John Fashanu has publicly apologised to his daughter and revealed he is divorcing his wife in a scathing statement.
“In a lengthy Instagram post, Fashanu, who presented the TV show for six seasons in the 1990s, took a brutal swipe at his ‘soon-to-be ex-wife’ and regretted spreading misinformation about his daughter, Amal.
“Fashanu said: ‘I’m here to clarify a few things, very important things. The video I previously did was wrong. I was misinformed by my wife Vivian, who I’m sorry to say I am divorcing. Now that I am aware of the truth, I apologise to my daughter Amal and legal action will be taken against the liar.’
“Fashanu was speaking to camera in the post, which was captioned: ‘I was the one who called my daughter, Amal, to become involved in my business because she is my first daughter, and she has always held a very special place in my heart.’
“He added: ‘Sadly, I allowed myself to be misinformed and influenced. My soon-to-be ex-wife, Vivian, created unnecessary division between me and my daughter, and I deeply regret allowing that to happen.’”
Sports247 adds that John Winton Fashanu, who was born on September 18th 1962 in Kensington area of London, was a centre-forward from 1978 until 1995, starting at Norwich City, before an eight-year spell at Wimbledon, following which he also starred for Aston Villa.
He later featured for Lincoln City, Crystal Palace and Millwall, then had a loan spell at Miramar Rangers of New Zealand, before which he was capped twice at senior level by England, and scored 134 league goals in a career lasting 17 years, then retired at the end of the 1994/95 season.
‘Fash The Cash’ was the son of Pearl Gopal, a nurse from British Guiana and Patrick Fashanu, a Nigerian barrister living in the UK but, when his parents split, he was sent, together with his older brother, Justin, to a Barnardo’s care home.
Fashanu, who has two sons, Amir and Akio, as well as two daughters, Alana and Amal, holds a black belt in Karate, but his last highly celebrated showbusiness appearance was in January 2023, as a contestant during the fifteenth series of Dancing On Ice, paired with Alexandra Schauman.
