Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
‘DANCER LINK’
Football is known as the Beautiful Game and it has long captivated Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich. But he has been appreciating performances on a more graceful stage than Stamford Bridge in recent years.
The 50-year-old has been spotted transfixed by the ballet, often alone and especially in his native Russia – sometimes several times a week.
With a £7billion fortune, the oligarch understandably has an appreciation for the finer things in life. In 2012, he even joined the Bolshoi Ballet’s board of trustees.
But yesterday, Russian media suggested he is interested in one prima ballerina in particular.
After Abramovich and third wife Dasha Zhukova, 36, announced their separation on Monday, speculation spiralled in Moscow about the prospect of the most expensive divorce ever.
And there was talk amid Russian outlets of an alleged link between the mogul and glamorous, married Russian ballerina Diana Vishneva, 41.
The dancer, currently in London, where she has been performing in Anna Karenina with the Mariinsky Ballet at the Royal Opera House, was first rumoured to be linked to Abramovich three years ago by some segments of Russian media.
The oligarch’s circle has always flatly denied the talk as “total nonsense” but after he confirmed his split from Dasha, it re-surfaced.
A friend close to Abramovich has again laughingly denied the rumours, which suggest the tycoon’s “heart had been conquered” by the ballerina – stating Diana is a good friend of Dasha too and they both support her work.
But newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets mentioned again yesterday a relationship between Abramovich and the dancer, while Russian Cosmopolitan speculated on “possible relations”. Of course, there is no evidence for any of the claims, which will no doubt irritate the famously enigmatic football chief, who rarely comments on his side’s form.
Famously, his 2008 marriage to Dasha was not made public for six years.
But the Russian media suggests any new romance is a game of two halves, claiming socialite Dasha, the daughter of a Russian oil magnate, may also have found new romance. Yet the couple, who have children Aaron, seven, and Leah, four, insist the parting is amicable.
They confirmed the “difficult” decision on Monday but said they would “remain close friends, parents and partners in the projects we developed together”.
Whatever the cause, the news spells a hat-trick of broken hearts for the Chelsea owner, proving all the money in the world, plus a plus a £1billion, 536ft luxury yacht, cannot buy you love.
Abramovich wed first wife Olga Lysova in 1987, then married air stewardess Irina Malandina in 1991, having five children with her. Olga has said she suspected the billionaire had an affair with Irina, describing nights when she waited up for him, saying: “I just knew that he had come from another woman.”
Abramovich was a struggling businessman and they shared a one-bed flat in Moscow with Olga’s daughter from another relationship. A £1,000 wedding gift from her parents helped set him up