Morgan Gibbs-White had to ditch his family holiday in Dubai after just two hours to answer an emergency England call-up because his team-mates pulled out.
The Nottingham Forest star had gone away with his fiancee Britney De Villiers – with whom he has two children – after missing out on Thomas Tuchel’s squad.
But Gibbs-White found himself answering an SOS call from Tuchel after five squad members withdrew from England duty.
And De Villiers shared a bizarre video to her 615,000 TikTok followers of the two lovebirds mouthing a High School Musical 2 song as Gibbs-White left the hotel room.
In the video, Gibbs-White leaves with his suitcase as he and De Villiers take it in turns to lip-sync lyrics from the song ‘Gotta Go My Own Way’.
At the end, the 26-year-old winger waves goodbye and mouths the crushing climactic line: ‘I’ve gotta leave but I’ll miss you.’
Morgan Gibbs-White has starred in a bizarre TikTok video with his fiancee Britney De Villiers after his emergency England call-up
De Villiers posted the dramatic video after Gibbs-White abandoned their family holiday in Dubai
It is a big opportunity for Gibbs-White, who was omitted from England’s World Cup squad but now has the chance to prove himself against Spain, Czechia, and Croatia during the unprecedented three-week international break.
He has six England caps, all off the bench, but his last outing came in October 2025 against Wales.
The forward has made a reasonable start to the season, scoring once and setting up two goals in the Premier League.
His inclusion comes after Cole Palmer, Declan Rice, Kobbie Mainoo, Marcus Rashford and Tino Livramento all pulled out of their national service. Gibbs-White and James Garner have stepped up in their place.
Rice played the entirety of Arsenal’s 3-0 defeat by Brighton on Saturday but has pulled out of the squad to manage his physical load.
Chelsea sources say Palmer has a muscular injury, while Manchester United boss Michael Carrick said Rashford had an ‘issue’ after their weekend draw with Fulham.
Rashford has been battling a hip issue since the World Cup and the injury needs management.
Mainoo is also struggling with an issue. The 21-year-old was in the squad at the World Cup, but did not play a single minute. However, he has played in all of United’s league games this season, starting the last four.
It is a huge opportunity for Gibbs-White, who missed out on Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup team
Cole Palmer is one of five players to pull out of the three-week international break
Livramento was forced to pull out of the World Cup squad with a calf injury, did not play for Newcastle United at the weekend and is yet to start a game this season.
Tuchel is scheduled to speak this Friday, when he will be able to offer his opinion on losing five players.
The German previously warned Palmer, who was left at home for the World Cup, that he had a ‘point to prove’ and needed ‘to step up’ to ‘keep his shirt and justify the nomination’.
He added: ‘So now it is a new competition. Some players, some positions, have more injuries. Some have less injuries. Cole has his starts that he always had but he has his numbers back – he has his assists back, he has decisive goals back – so that is why he is in the squad.’
Tuchel cited having too many attacking midfielders to include them all as the reason for Gibbs-White’s initial omission.
‘It makes no sense to nominate three, four, five No 10s,’ Tuchel said. ‘It just does not help anyone.
