Gary Lineker's glamourous mystery dinner date revealed as 'Slovenian Kate Moss'

Gary Lineker was spotted on a romantic dinner date with Slovenian-born artist and former model Leila Bartell, who is close friends with Johnny Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard

TV presenter Gary Lineker's glamorous dinner date has been revealed as Leila Bartell, who was once called the “Slovenian Kate Moss”.

The Match of the Day pundit, who has been married twice, was seen on a romantic night out in London with the Slovenian-born visual artist and former model, 44, last week.

Gary, 63, looked relaxed and happy as he and Leila left the Dorian restaurant in Notting Hill, west London, near her studio, and headed for their nearby cars. The gorgeous brunette looked chic in an all-black trouser suit and low heels, while Gary wore a more casual ensemble, finishing off his look with a brown suede jacket.

It was reported the former England footballer had been growing close to Leila, who is also a film director, but the couple have yet to comment on their blossoming relationship. It also emerged that back in 2009, Leila appeared in a music video with rocker Sarah Greenwood, and the pair shared a steamy kiss.

In the video for the track Bringin' Me Down, she played a “woman in the lake”, according to iMDB, who drags Sarah down to the icy depths. The music video was shot in Iceland and Switzerland, and director Katrina Del Mar described Leila as a “hot… Slovenian superstar”, according to MailOnline.

The visual artist is also friends with Johnny Depp’s ex-wife Amber Heard, and in 2017, the duo were seen dressed up for Halloween while strolling around Los Angeles together. Leila began her modelling career in her home country, where she was dubbed the “Slovenian Kate Moss”, and was a famous TV presenter before she decided to move to London to begin a career in finance.

Leila, who used to present the music TV show Videospotnica in Slovenia, became involved in the film industry after moving to London in the early 2000s, and confessed she had got into directing “by accident” as she was studying art and law at the time. In an interview with YG TV in 2018, she said she had “always been into visual arts”, but filmmaking “honestly happened by chance.”

Over the summer, she exhibited a series of her paintings in her home town of Novo Mesto, titled Leila's Dreamscapes, and her studio is based in Notting Hill in London, close to where she and Gary were seen enjoying dinner. It’s the first public romance for the ex-footballer since the breakdown of his second marriage to model Danielle Bux in 2016.

Gary was first married to Michelle Cockayne, and the couple share four sons, but they split after 20 years of marriage, with Michelle citing Gary’s “unreasonable” behaviour during their marriage as the reason for the split. He then tied the knot with Danielle in 2009, but they announced their shock divorce in 2016, when it emerged Gary refused to have any more children. Danielle has a close relationship with her ex, and has since married entertainment lawyer Nate Greenwald, with the couple sharing a daughter Ella.

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