David Ginola, a former Premier League star known for his dazzling wing play at clubs like Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur, once made headlines for a personal life as dramatic as his football career. The French footballer, who turned 59 on January 25, was famously married to fashion model Coraline Delphin after they wed in 1991. However, their relationship ultimately ended in divorce in 2016, a split Delphin attributed to his infidelities.
Their marriage faced intense public scrutiny during the so-called "love child saga." In 2000, it was reported that Ginola had fathered a daughter, Joy, with Parisian businesswoman Joelle Pinquier following a brief affair in 1991. The situation escalated when Ginola faced legal consequences for reportedly falling behind on child support payments and was instructed by a court to pay £30,000 to Pinquier after allegedly declining a DNA test.
Pinquier stated at the time, "We met through mutual friends in football when David was at PSG. I ended the relationship when I learned he was married and his wife was expecting. It was only later I discovered I was also pregnant... I want him to be a father to her, not act like a celebrity. She wants to bear his name and for him to acknowledge her."
Following his divorce from Delphin, which was said to be amicable, Ginola began a new relationship with model Maëva Denat. Denat, who is 22 years his junior and has been nicknamed the "French Angelina Jolie," and Ginola soon started a family, welcoming a child in 2018. However, this new chapter was not without friction. Ginola's son, Andrea, publicly expressed his disapproval, commenting, "She is not the next Angelina Jolie. She's struggling. I wish my father would find someone with a stable career and clear ambitions."
Denat recounts that their first meeting occurred on what she calls "the day he died," referring to the former player's cardiac arrest during a charity football match in 2016. "We were introduced by a friend at a restaurant in Cannes just after midnight. We talked, shared a kiss, and then he left for the event," she recalled. "Later, my friend called asking, 'What did you do to David?' I was back in Marseille and terribly worried. I had no way to check on him through his close friends." Ginola's heart stopped for nine minutes before he was revived with a defibrillator, later undergoing emergency quadruple bypass surgery.
Now fully recovered and with Denat, Ginola offered a glimpse into their private life after leaving the I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! camp in 2021. When asked what he missed most, he candidly replied, "Making love—especially when it's part of your daily routine."
