Amir Khan’s posh American wife Faryal Makhdoom put up with his affairs and living in even Bolton but bullying by his family was last straw
TO many it seemed a mismatch from the start.
In the red corner, the working- class brawler from Bolton. In the blue, the model daughter of a wealthy New York family.
But loyal Faryal Makhdoom has shown she’s just as capable of rolling with the punches as her boxing star husband Amir Khan.
The make-up artist moved an ocean away from her family and friends to Bolton to live in the annexe of a home shared with her in-laws.
She sacrificed society balls for nights in local bars and watching her husband train in sweaty gyms.
She even shrugged off reports of his philandering with a string of women.
But Faryal came out fighting this week after what she described as “bullying” by her husband’s kin.
Simmering tensions finally exploded when Faryal lifted the lid on a vicious family feud which threatens to tear the Khans apart.
The row apparently started on Sunday after the model gushed about taking part in a catwalk fashion show.
Her sister-in-law Mariyah, 19, then posted that Faryal’s modelling “should be called dogwalk”, and the 25-year-old hit back with a flurry of furious posts on social media.
In one she claimed Mariyah threatened to physically attack her and in another accused Amir’s mum Falak and dad Shah of encouraging him to divorce Faryal when she was nine months pregnant with their daughter Lamaisah, now two.
The make-up artist’s rant was viewed more than 140,000 times — prompting Mariyah to post a picture of herself online with the caption: “Do I look like I can beat someone up?” and accuse Faryal of lying.
But Amir already seems to have shown which corner he is in by fleeing the UK with Faryal to New York the following day.
Officially the trip is to carry out work for his charity, the Amir Khan Foundation, which raises money to build orphanages globally.
But it has also meant that Amir, who turned 30 on Thursday, did not celebrate his birthday with family and friends as usual but was thousands of miles away with Faryal in the city where her parents Shaukat and mum Zia have a luxury Staten Island home.
Faryal then appeared to deliver a knockout blow by posting a picture on Facebook of the couple with the caption: “And I will fight to live with you until my last breath. I love you baby! Happy 30th Birthday @amir- kingkhan you deserve everything!”.
With the model telling pals she wants to see in 2017 in New York, pals of Amir fear he could be forced to consider moving to the US full-time to keep his wife happy.
Faryal seems to be enjoying her new-found freedom to speak out against his family, as more messages tumbled out on Snapchat accusing her in-laws of turning her into a “slave” in her own home.
One read: “It’s funny how you expect your daughter-in-laws to live with you and be your slaves.
“But your own daughters never lived a day with their in-laws. Think it’s ok to boss me around?
“So when (my husband) listens to me, you call him all sorts of names? How unfair.”
She added: “I will keep going if I have to!! #enoughisenough.”
A long-time friend of Amir’s told The Sun last night: “This is a nightmare for him. He’s always been close to his mum and dad.
“He could have left Bolton long ago but chose to stay close to them.
“But he’s painfully aware that in his younger days he was a womaniser who let the fame get to his head. Faryal’s stuck by him and believed his denials about the girls.
“He also adores his little daughter and couldn’t stand it if she moved away from him.
“Faryal’s given up almost everything to be with Amir, and moved into the family home. But their backgrounds are worlds apart and her relationship with the in-laws has got so bad they barely speak.
"Amir now faces a choice between his wife and his family.”
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So where did it all go wrong?
Pals said Amir couldn’t believe his luck when a mutual pal introduced him to 5ft 3in Faryal at a party on a 2011 trip to the US.
He fell in love with her and splashed out £100,000 on a diamond engagement ring in January 2012.
But it was not all plain sailing. Faryal later told The Sun she struggled to understand the boxers thick Bolton accent.
The political science and journalism graduate said: “It was like he was speaking in a foreign tongue so I just used to nod, agree with whatever he was talking about and say, ‘Yeah’.”
Almost immediately, other women began to crawl from the woodwork.
Solicitor Tanya Reid, 30, claimed she kissed Amir while he was on a lads’ holiday in Marbella during his engagement.
Promotions girl Natalie Kane, 29, also told how she romped with the boxer on the same break.
Amir assured Faryal the girls were lying and wedding plans continued, with the pair hosting a £150,000 engagement bash attended by 1,000 guests including Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand.
Following their £1million wedding in June 2013, at New York’s Waldorf- Astoria hotel, Faryal moved to Bolton and the couple made their home in an annexe of the five-bedroom, £400,000 family home in the suburb of Lostock.
But she soon admitted to homesickness. On Twitter she rated Bolton “one out of ten” and added: “Really really miss home and everyone in NY.”
Her mood was not helped when Amir was at the centre of yet more infidelity allegations.
Just months after the wedding he was accused of sleeping with Playboy model Carla Howe just before he and Faryal got engaged.
Carla told The Sun on Sunday: “Amir was obsessed with my breasts. He was very cocky like every boxer I know. I feel so sorry for his wife.”
He was also accused of having a Skype webcam sex romp with an American woman the same month.
In January 2014, he reportedly begged glamour girl Christie Lee Hoyle, 25, to dress in sexy gear before meeting at her flat and disappearing inside for 45 minutes.
Just six days after the rendezvous Faryal declared online she was “proud to announce I’m having a little princess”.
A month later he pursued old flame Clair Nuttall, 35, begging her for a threesome.
And in April 2014 he romped with 23-year-old French beauty Eglantine-Flore Aguilar, asking her to sign a gagging clause a month before Faryal gave birth.
Last year MTV reality star Lateysha Grace told how he offered her and two pals cash for sex in a nightclub — just moments after his wife had left the building.
In a book, The Valleys beauty said: “No sooner had she walked out the door than Amir made a beeline for our table.”
Whatever the rights and wrongs of his past and the last few days, Amir faces the fight of his life to keep everyone happy.
In an interview two years ago he explained: “The boxing world can be a lonely one and I’m grateful every day to have Dad and my whole family watching my back.
“It would be unthinkable if I didn’t have their support.”
Earlier this week dad Shah appeared to offer an olive branch with a statement to a local paper reading: “At the end of the day, Amir is my son. That will never change.
"Obviously she is his wife and our daughter-in-law and nobody can change that.
“I hope they live happily ever after.”