Willie Thorne’s ex
His love notes to another woman broke my heart
SNOOKER legend Willie Thorne’s wife today reveals how she was left out of pocket and heartbroken by the gambling addict star.
Jill Saxby claims she found lovey-dovey messages in which Willie and another woman declared love for each other.
He strenuously denied being unfaithful and former Miss Great Britain Jill stood by the former Strictly Come Dancing star.
But when their £475,000 Leicester home was repossessed – after he had used her jewellery and even her car to pay off debts – Jill decided enough was enough.
Speech therapist Jill, 60, says: “He was a kind, loving man, but there was this addiction. I’d call it ‘Willie’s World’.
“Together, it was ‘Our World’. The other Willie was sneaking off, placing bets, getting into debt and serious trouble.”
Horrendous
Jill discovered the ipad messages – their devices were paired – in January 2014.
She says: “I was looking to see if he’d been gambling. It was horrendous – there was evidence he’d been contacting another woman. There were messages saying how much he loved her and she’d say ‘ditto’.
“Others said things like, ‘Been thinking about you all day’.he even contacted her on our anniversary. He kept changing this number in his phone to different names.
“I checked his car satnav and saw that he’d been to Kettering. I was devastated, thinking, ‘This can’t be real’.”
After several months Jill tackled Willie. She adds: “He cried, saying it was someone who wanted an autograph and asked about Strictly. He swore nothing happened.”
Around that time Willie had two small strokes. He would later have a prostate cancer scare and down the years there were two attempted suicides. He racked up £1million gambling debts and Jill has previously told how thugs threatened to chop off her fingers if money wasn’t repaid. The stress took its toll and Jill left Willie on October 6. They had moved to Spain last year to start afresh but she soon suspected he was gambling again.
She says: “Someone sent a text saying he had approached someone for financial reasons. In June we lost the house back home. I couldn’t endure it any more. I had to get out before I had a nervous breakdown. He admitted he’d been a s**t and said he didn’t blame me for falling out of love with him.”
The couple, who both had two kids, wed in 2004. There were good times. But of the dark days,
Jill says: “I had a lovely Tag diamond watch. When I asked where it was he said he’d taken it to be cleaned. One day he broke down in tears and said someone was ‘looking after it’. He said he’d get it back when he paid them back.
“In the car one day he was sobbing. He said he needed my engagement ring or he’d be in big trouble. He even gave away my Audi TT.
“He had to give it to this person before he got
‘filled in’.”
Despite everything, Jill – an adviser to the 20-20
Voice Cancer charity – bears no grudge and says:
“I’m not trying to make people feel bad of him.
“But I want people to see how gambling affects you.”
Willie declined to comment.
He gave my diamond watch and Audi TT away to pay debts