Imogen Thomas breaks down on TV as she says she's tempted to break super-injunction and name footballer lover
Ms Thomas shed tears as she denied blackmailing the footballer for up to £100,000, and reiterated that they had been involved in a six-month affair.
Speaking on This Morning, she said that she would not be talking to the newspapers again about the affair, and said that she wanted her day in court to expose the man who she had been sleeping with.
She said she had nothing to do with the story to expose the Premier League star who allegedly cheated on his wife.
The 28-year-old said it was 'unfair' that she was the centre of attention while the family man is able to hide behind his court order.
In a public judgement at the High Court yesterday, Mr Justice Eady said he had been handed strong evidence that Miss Thomas had tried to blackmail the footballer, and that he had been ‘set up’.
But she said countered today: 'For me, blackmail is such a serious allegation. I can't believe someone is accusing me of blackmail and it's on the front cover of every newspaper today saying I've blackmailed this man.
'This is totally untrue. I've never asked for anything the whole time I was with him.'
Asked by interviewer Philip Schofield if she had demanded money to keep the story quiet, she said: 'No. Not at all. This is what I'm saying. There's no evidence of this. There's nothing there and like I said I've not given my statement.
'I want to say the truth about what happened between us - not to the papers, I want to say in court what happened and for me to defend myself because for me now, I mean I see blackmail as being a criminal.
'I'm sorry that I had an affair - I know what I did was wrong and I've put my hands up. I've done wrong. But today I've come on here to defend my name to show that I'm not a blackmailer. It's wrong. Even the judge says that he has no evidence of this and it could be misleading.'
'I've been so tempted just to say "yeah, it is that person" because why should I be taking all this flak and him get away with everything basically.
'His life is as normal... I don't know what he's going through at home, none of us know.'
'I'm absolutely hated. I've had lots of football fans telling my to die on Twitter. And yes, I can close my Twitter account down but why should I be doing that as well?
'I try not to read the stuff. I mean, I will not read the newspapers from now on - it's just too upsetting. My mum is in bits over this.'
Mr Justice Eady said yesterday that Miss Thomas told the player she ‘needed’ £50,000 and that he agreed to meet her in a hotel because he feared she would sell her story if he did not.
She contacted him again a few days later and asked for another meeting, at a second hotel, where he gave her some football tickets.
Mr Justice Eady said she had later contacted him again and ‘made it clear that she was looking for £100,000’.
The judge said the player could have been ‘set up’ so that photographs could be taken at the two hotel rendezvous.
In his lengthy judgement, he said: ‘The evidence before the court at that point, therefore, appeared strongly to suggest that the claimant was being blackmailed, although that is not how he put it himself.’
The former reality television contestant, who has dated footballer Jermain Defoe and comedian Russell Brand, said she is happy to swear an oath to say she did not try to blackmail the footballer.
She added: 'I want to stand there and swear on the Bible and say the absolute truth. I have no intention of going to the paper.
'It's the truth I had no involvement with the story. If I hadn't warned him he would have been all over the newspapers.'
The Welsh-born brunette insists she had a six-month affair with the player in a string of hotels, and says she was in love with him.