Snooker star Willie’s widow finds new love one year on
Jill’s romance with financial guru
THE widow of snooker star Willie Thorne has found happiness again a year after his death.
Former Miss GB Jill Thorne is dating financial adviser John Harrington, 59, after they were introduced by friends.
Pals say things are going well. They have both posted photos on social media, with one showing them on a date at Rudyard Lake in Staffordshire.
Among the replies, one pal posted: “You look gorgeous and very happy.”
Just days ago Jill, 61, said: “We have been seeing each other for a few months, but it’s still early days.
“We’re not rushing into anything, but we’re enjoying each other’s company.”
Willie – loved by fans and one of the biggest stars in the sport in the 1980s and early 1990s – died in June 2020, aged 66, from leukaemia.
In their final years together Willie and second wife Jill had a fraught relationship as he battled a gambling addiction, depression and bankruptcy.
TURMOIL
The couple moved to Spain to try to rekindle their relationship.
But in the end things became too much for Jill and she left Willie towards the end of 2019 and returned to England.
But after he fell ill, Jill got back in touch and the pair were in regular contact in his final months.
She said after his death: “We still loved each other. We texted or spoke to each other every day – particularly when he became poorly.
“Despite the turmoil we loved each other very much for 24 years. It’s so sad. But he can now rest in peace.”
Mum-of-two Jill, who won Miss Great Britain in 1985, got together with Willie in the mid 1990s after her first marriage ended.
She and TV pundit Willie – from Leicester and a close pal of Match of the Day host Gary Lineker – moved to Villamartin in Spain after years of financial woes. He was diagnosed with leukaemia in March last year and had chemotherapy at Torrevieja hospital, close to Alicante, on the Costa Blanca. He also underwent three blood transfusions. Willie was rushed to hospital following a drop in his blood pressure to dangerously low levels and was placed in an induced coma.
A message from friends on social media later broke the sad news: “It is with a very heavy and broken heart that I announce that Willie Thorne lost his battle and passed away. Willie went into septic shock and was not responding to treatment so the decision was made by the hospital to turn off the machines.”
We aren’t rushing... we enjoy being with each other JILL THORNE ON DATING HER NEW FELLA JOHN