DANIELLI: MY DOWNFALL
They were a golden couple – the 6ft 2in privately educated rugby star and the vivacious heiress to a £70m fortune. But last week, at a drab provincial court, their gilded marriage was exposed as fatally tarnished amid lurid claims of thuggery, infidelity
EVEN now, Simon Danielli recalls with fondness the first time he met Olivia Jennings at the bar of an upmarket nightclub. He was a rugby international, capped for Scotland, with the swagger and build of a world-class sportsman – tall and physically imposing. She was a model, the daughter of a wealthy property tycoon.
Captivated by her long, blonde hair, quick wit and beautiful smile, he fell in love at first sight. Within weeks they had moved in together, and were enjoying the first flush of new romance. Then came the proposal in New York, the dream castle wedding, the birth of their first child and a beautiful new home.
But fast forward eight years from their first meeting and their onceperfect marriage is wrecked beyond repair – sullied by allegations of violence, infidelity, theft and mistrust.
Last Thursday, after weeks of mud-slinging in court, Danielli the sporting hero was reduced to the status of criminal: guilty of assaulting the man he suspected of being his wife’s latest lover.
Yet even after such a fall from grace, the 37-year-old reveals in an exclusive interview with The Scottish Mail on Sunday he is glad the world now knows he never hit the wife he once held so dear.
He tells how humbled he was by the public support he received from sporting figures including Ireland and Ulster captain Rory Best, who said he was a man of ‘honesty and integrity’, and from model Danielle Bux, his ex-fiancée who later married Gary Lineker and who sent him messages of support during his trial.
Last night, the 6ft 2in, 17st former rugby star said: ‘I deeply regret going there that night, and chasing that man. But I want to make one thing absolutely clear: I am not a violent man and I would absolutely never hit my wife or any other woman. I am not a wife-beater. And I am glad this has been proven.’
Edinburgh-born Danielli was raised in Cheltenham, where he attended £34,000-a-year Cheltenham College before studying philosophy and theology at Oxford. He would go on to play rugby for Scotland, including two World Cups.
He met Olivia Jennings in 2008 when he moved to Northern Ireland to play for Ulster. He says: ‘I just fell head over heels for her, straightaway. We met at a nightclub, and she messaged me on Facebook afterwards and asked if I could help her paint her house.
‘It was a whirlwind from then on – everything happened very quickly. She moved into my apartment within weeks.
‘We were in our honeymoon period and doing everything lovers do at the start: having sex, watching box sets, going on holidays. She was always the life and soul of the party. I have great memories of our time together back then, the start was really special.’
Danielli proposed in New York less than a year later and the pair married in October 2009 in Carrowdore Castle, east of Belfast.
They have three children – Rocco, seven, Valentina, five, and threeyear-old Kiana.
Danielli said: ‘I always wanted to be a young dad, and having children is the best thing that ever happened to me. Each of their births were the best days of my life. I am the first to admit that I’m rubbish at a lot of things in life, but being a father is not one of them – it is the one thing I know I’m good at. My kids are my life.’
The relationship between Miss Jennings and the rugby player, whose two tries saved Scotland from embarrassing defeat against Romania in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, soured in 2014.
In court, Danielli’s counsel, Mark Mulholland, QC, said Miss Jennings had been having a ‘long-standing affair’ with another man before
‘I regret going there and chasing that man’
Michael Browne – the man Danielli was convicted last week of assaulting.
The QC also mentioned a text sent by Miss Jennings’s father Shamus, who has a £70 million fortune, to Danielli in October 2014. It read: ‘Please don’t give up, Simon. I will deal with any third party issues.’
The court also heard that during marriage counselling, which the pair attended after Danielli left their marital home in late 2014, he had asked his wife not to have any more affairs – or to tell him if she did, so he could know their marriage was over.
But despite the courtroom fingerpointing, Danielli now refuses to speak ill of the mother of his children and declined to go into details, although he did reveal the pain he had suffered. He said: ‘The first time you get cheated on, it is absolutely devastating, it’s completely heart-breaking. Nothing ever feels as raw as that or stings as badly. It is horrible.
‘But when you have children to fight for, you cling on and try to make things work. I still loved Olivia when we went through counselling, and I couldn’t picture my life without being able to see my children every day. So I clung on and I fought.’
The couple continued seeing one another during marriage counselling and stayed together most evenings, although he kept a separate apartment in Belfast. Then on March 11, 2015, Danielli saw ‘explicit’ messages on his wife’s phone from a profile which bore a photo of Mr Browne. Last night, he said: ‘I knew they were meeting the next night, so I drove to his home and waited outside it. I wasn’t in a rage or even that angry, the jealousy ship had long since sailed. But I was upset and wanted to get final closure. ‘I saw Olivia and Michael leave his house together, arm in arm. That’s when I got out of my car. Michael immediately bolted, and I just thought to myself “I’m a winger, I’m fast, I’m going to catch you”, so I sprinted after him. It was a natural reaction. He was going full-pelt, he tripped and went flying. I stood over him and shouted, “Are you proud of yourself? Are you proud of what you’ve done?”.’ On Thursday, Danielli admitted common assault and was fined £500. The charge stated that as well as chasing Mr Browne, Danielli had punched him in the face, leaving him with a black eye. Although admitting his conduct was an assault, Danielli continues to insist he never actually hit Mr Browne. He said: ‘I regret going there that night, I really do. But I needed closure. Yes, I chased him, and I shouted at him – I wanted an explanation and an apology or something. But I am not a violent person, and I will always stand by the fact I never hit or kicked him.’
Accusations that he had thrown his estranged wife to the ground and smashed her phone were dismissed by the court. He said: ‘I absolutely did not hit my wife. This one accusation has been the worst part of this whole experience.’
Miss Jennings, who describes herself on Twitter as ‘Domestic Goddess, animal lover. Loves to Party!’ admitted in court placing a GPS tracking device in her husband’s car.
She is also due to go on trial for damaging Danielli’s £38,000 Jaguar in 2015, and is being investigated for wasting police time in relation to a claim that Danielli stole £150,000 from her bank account.
Danielli, now an investment adviser who splits his time between Northern Ireland and London, is trying to remain focused on his children. He said: ‘They are my number one priority.’