Who is Natasha Massey? As Ched Evans rebuilds his football career after being cleared of rape here’s what we know about his fianceé
27-year-old beauty therapist stood by the former Welsh international footballer who was originally found guilty of rape
Natasha Massey is the fianceé of former Premier League footballer Ched Evans.
The 27-year-old beauty therapist has stood by his side since 2011 when he was found guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman - a verdict which was later overturned before he was found not guilty in a retrial.
Massey had been dating Evans for almost three years when the alleged rape took place and was left heartbroken when she found out her boyfriend had cheated on her.
Despite this, she vowed to support the ex-Sheffield United striker and said she knew he was innocent.
As a result, she was targeted by trolls online and has been branded “disgusting”, an “embarrassment” and a “gold-digger” in a flood of angry tweets.
But the daughter of a millionaire Miss Massey insisted the only thing Evans, 27, was guilty of was cheating on her.
It can also be revealed Evans' fiancée offered a key witness in his rape trial a £50,000 "bribe" for evidence to clear him.
Her wealthy businessman father, Karl, owns several companies including a jewellers in Wilmslow, Cheshire. He funded a website, Chedevans.com, which proclaimed Evans to be "wrongly convicted of rape on 20th April 2012".
He also hired lawyers for an appeal.
Evans was convicted in 2011 of raping a 19-year-old girl at a Premier Inn in Rhyl, North Wales, and was sentenced to five years in jail.
The footballer - who used to earn £20,000 a week - always admitted having sex with the accuser but insisted that the encounter was consensual.
He was found not guilty by the jury following a retrial for the case.
The prosecution had insisted the woman – who cannot be named – was too drunk to give her consent to sexual intercourse on the night of the incident.
The Court of Appeal saw his rape conviction quashed on April 21 2016 on the grounds of new evidence. He was later cleared of rape in a retrial at Cardiff Crown Court.
In an interview with ITV's This Morning, the devoted girlfriend revealed she visited him in prison every week since he was jailed in 2012.
She added: "As soon as I found out that he’d been questioned over rape, my instinct was kind of protective of Ched, and I thought I have to stand by him.
"So my thoughts and feelings over the cheating were put to one side and I just stepped in to help him through this terrible time.
"I know Ched and I knew he wouldn’t be capable of committing a crime like that."
The pair, who live in Cheshire, got engaged soon after Evans’ release from prison.
Evans thanked her for her "unconditional love, belief and support".
In 2016, she gave birth to their baby boy and watched Evans struggle to get a football club to sign him up.
He was a youth team striker with great promise when Manchester City signed him in 2002 then he was sold to Sheffield United for £3million in July 2009, just weeks after he first met Natasha.
In June 2016 league One side Chesterfield signed Evans, extending his contract until 2018 in January 2017.