Ex-model Keeley uses her own sex tape ordeal for Ted Lasso storyline
TED LASSO actress Keeley Hazell relived the trauma of having a private sex video leaked – by writing an episode of the hit show about the issue.
The former glamour model, who plays Bex in the show, was devastated in 2007 when a film of her and an ex-boyfriend found its way on to the internet.
Now the Mail on Sunday can reveal that Ms Hazell, 36, co-wrote last week’s episode of the Apple TV favourite, which had a sex video leak at the heart of its plot.
In the show, Keeley Jones, played by actress Juno Temple, panics after discovering that a video she filmed for a former boyfriend has appeared online and that family and colleagues are likely to see it. The leak is then discussed by players of the fictional AFC Richmond, who are sympathetic to the character’s predicament and decide not to look at the footage. Fictional Keeley, also a former glamour model who now works as AFC Richmond’s publicist, refuses to apologise for the film. A source close to the show said: ‘It was written as an empowering storyline and Keeley Hazell was very passionate about ensuring that it was presented properly. ‘It is wonderful that all of these years later she was able to use her torrid experience for some good and to shine a light on the issue which can be so devastating for so many people.’ Ms Hazell, whose character is the second wife of West Ham United owner Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head) in Ted Lasso, won the Sun newspaper’s Page 3 Idol competition in 2005. She was left a ‘sobbing wreck’ after she was told by fellow model Nicola Tappenden that an explicit sex video had been leaked on the internet in 2007, when she was 20. She obtained an injunction preventing further publication or promotion of the video.
Ms Hazell said at the time: ‘I just burst into tears when I saw the images staring back at me.
‘We had taken a video camera on holiday with us to Tenerife last summer. We were both feeling relaxed after a couple of drinks and it just happened.
‘I have turned down offers to do Playboy covers because there were certain things I simply didn’t want others to see. Now I feel I have no dignity left,’ she added.
Previously it was reported that Ms Hazell enjoyed a romance with Ted Lasso’s star Jason Sudeikis, 47.