Tycoon’s wife ‘forced to live with his lover’
THE wife of a multi-millionaire has lifted the lid on the bizarre menage-a-trois she shares with her property tycoon husband and his glamorous girlfriend.
Despite splitting from businessman Robert Tchenguiz 10 years ago, Heather Bird, 48, remains married to him.
She lives with him and Julia Dybowska in a £20million mansion overlooking London’s Royal Albert Hall.
While she lives with their two children on the ground floor, her 57-year-old husband shares the top storey with Julia, 27.
Heather said yesterday that she dresses from Sainsbury’s while Julia shops at Chanel – like she used to. Heather said: “It’s a difficult situation to be in, but I don’t really have any choice. It’s heartbreaking to have to share the family home with his girlfriend – particularly one who is undeniably sexy.
“She’s the model type, the sort who Instagrams a lot. Meanwhile I’m no longer a size eight or even a 10. I’m not fat, but I have put on weight – sometimes I drink red wine to deaden my feelings.”
Heather said that at last she is to seek a divorce and embark on a new life. She predicted that her flamboyant husband, known for his lavish partying and string of girlfriends, will eventually settle down with Polish-born Julia.
The couple married in 2005 and Heather, brought up a Mormon in the conservative US state of Utah, took to her husband’s luxurious life with apparent gusto.
At the time the fortune he had built up with his brother, Vincent, was estimated at £4.5billion – made from a succession of property and business deals during the 1980s and 1990s.
But the marriage ran into trouble just three years later when his business came under pressure.
He lost £1.6billion in the Icelandic banking crisis which formed part of the global credit crunch.
Heather said she decided to split because she could no longer put up with her husband’s partying.
She said: “I can’t take it any more. Robert has had a lot of girlfriends. I want to get on with him, but I don’t agree with his partying lifestyle – drinking, swearing and cavorting.
“He is not a bad person, really, we are just different.”
She moved out and allowed him daily access to the children. Then a few months ago Robert asked her to move back into her former family home.
Though she has a beauty clinic, Heather is still dependent upon him financially, so agreed.
She said: “I’ve just got back from Courchevel, where we went on a family skiing holiday.
“The girlfriend came too and I had to put up with it. It’s not that I don’t like her, but how would you feel?”