A messy marital split tarnishes a Roman footballing legend
Francesco Totti and Ilary Blasi shared a love story. Now she's hiding her Rolexes, and he's holding her Jimmy Choos hostage.
ROME — Once upon a time, Francesco Totti, the crowned prince of Italian football, celebrated a goal ripping off his shirt and revealing a T-shirt that read "You're the One", a proclamation of undying love for Ilary Blasi, a showgirl who stole his heart. The two married live on TV, had three children, and moved into a villa fit for Rome's born-and-raised royals.
Now 20 years later, he says that Mrs. It was Blasi who stole his Rolex watches.
In reaction to her stealing his timepieces, estimated at over a million euros, Mr Totti, 46, admits to raiding his wife's collection of Jimmy Choo, Amina Muaddi, Le Silla, Casadei and Gucci shoes. He also hid his Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Chanel handbags, which is the name of one of their daughters. Roman newspaper Il Messaggero.
"What could I do? I hid her purses, hoping we could swap,” Mr. Totti said in an interview. She didn't, but in recent days Ms Blasi, 41, has collected the bags - either with the help of a locksmith at the villa she still awkwardly shares with Mr Totti, or through a peace offering from her husband.
For a country — and especially a city — that is often afflicted with a Deeply cynical about storybook appearances, the durability of happiness, and even the existence of true love, the breakup proved to be a public trauma and a tabloid bonanza.
The split may be short the factory of football celebrities' bling-bling industrial complex, but in Rome the split has become legend. Mr. Totti - one of the most famous players of his generation and the most beloved player of A.S. Roma history - is revered in Rome for staying with his hometown team throughout his quarter-century career, including his days as The Golden Child, The Phenomenon, The Captain and The Legend.
The more foreigners laughed at his Roman accent, abbreviated dialect grammar, and colorful vocabulary for his Roman provincialism, the more he became the coat of arms city human. He eventually pokes fun at himself in TV commercials and Totti joke books.
In Mr. Totti's last game, generations of Italians shed a tear and the Romans screamed uncontrollably, as the star took a lap of honor around the pitch with Ms Blasi and her children. He became the personification of Roman fidelity.
Now all of Italy, it seems, is focused on his alleged infidelity.
< figure class="img-sz-medium css-c2rv7t e1g7ppur0" aria-label="media" role="group">ImageM. Totti and Ms. Blasi with their children in 2017.Credit...Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio, via Getty ImagesThis week, M. ...
Francesco Totti and Ilary Blasi shared a love story. Now she's hiding her Rolexes, and he's holding her Jimmy Choos hostage.
ROME — Once upon a time, Francesco Totti, the crowned prince of Italian football, celebrated a goal ripping off his shirt and revealing a T-shirt that read "You're the One", a proclamation of undying love for Ilary Blasi, a showgirl who stole his heart. The two married live on TV, had three children, and moved into a villa fit for Rome's born-and-raised royals.
Now 20 years later, he says that Mrs. It was Blasi who stole his Rolex watches.
In reaction to her stealing his timepieces, estimated at over a million euros, Mr Totti, 46, admits to raiding his wife's collection of Jimmy Choo, Amina Muaddi, Le Silla, Casadei and Gucci shoes. He also hid his Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Chanel handbags, which is the name of one of their daughters. Roman newspaper Il Messaggero.
"What could I do? I hid her purses, hoping we could swap,” Mr. Totti said in an interview. She didn't, but in recent days Ms Blasi, 41, has collected the bags - either with the help of a locksmith at the villa she still awkwardly shares with Mr Totti, or through a peace offering from her husband.
For a country — and especially a city — that is often afflicted with a Deeply cynical about storybook appearances, the durability of happiness, and even the existence of true love, the breakup proved to be a public trauma and a tabloid bonanza.
The split may be short the factory of football celebrities' bling-bling industrial complex, but in Rome the split has become legend. Mr. Totti - one of the most famous players of his generation and the most beloved player of A.S. Roma history - is revered in Rome for staying with his hometown team throughout his quarter-century career, including his days as The Golden Child, The Phenomenon, The Captain and The Legend.
The more foreigners laughed at his Roman accent, abbreviated dialect grammar, and colorful vocabulary for his Roman provincialism, the more he became the coat of arms city human. He eventually pokes fun at himself in TV commercials and Totti joke books.
In Mr. Totti's last game, generations of Italians shed a tear and the Romans screamed uncontrollably, as the star took a lap of honor around the pitch with Ms Blasi and her children. He became the personification of Roman fidelity.
Now all of Italy, it seems, is focused on his alleged infidelity.
< figure class="img-sz-medium css-c2rv7t e1g7ppur0" aria-label="media" role="group">ImageM. Totti and Ms. Blasi with their children in 2017.Credit...Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio, via Getty ImagesThis week, M. ...
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