FIVE years ago Crazy Gang footballer-turned-actor Vinnie Jones lost the love of his life and his career was waning.
But now, at 59, the hardman has found happiness again with a new partner — and is adored by a new generation of fans after starring in hit Netflix gangster series The Gentlemen.
He has given booze the boot and is set for West End stardom after being offered a big-money deal to be in Only Fools And Horses The Musical.
Such a change in fortunes would have felt unlikely for Vinnie after Tanya, his beloved wife of 25 years, died of cancer in July 2019, aged 53.
The couple were both diagnosed with melanoma — skin cancer — in 2013, and Tanya’s diagnosis followed a string of other health problems including cervical cancer and an emergency heart transplant at 21.
Vinnie’s treatment was successful but Tanya’s cancer spread to her brain. After she died at their home in Los Angeles he said: “They said to us maybe days, maybe weeks, maybe months. I was on my knees howling.”
He vowed he would never marry again, adding: “It was the perfect one and done for me.”
But yesterday The Sun revealed that Vinnie has finally found love again with his personal assistant, Emma Ford, 47.
Though a wedding seems unlikely, given his previous comments, pals say Emma has “brought the light back into Vinnie’s eyes” after years of heartache.
The former Wimbledon, Chelsea and Leeds midfielder fell for her while filming his 2023 TV show for the Discovery+ channel, Vinnie Jones In The Country.
But out of respect for Tanya — who he had dated when they were teens before they later reunited and wed in 1994 — Vinnie has chosen not to speak about his romance with Emma.
They care about each other deeply and things are looking up for both of them.
Friend of Vinnie and Emma
One source said: “Tanya is the love of Vinnie’s life and he’s a true gentleman, so he didn’t want to reveal his new relationship purely out of respect for her.
“But he is happy with the way things are progressing with Emma and is excited for what their future holds.
“They care about each other deeply and things are looking up for both of them.”
Emma, from Taunton, Somerset — who Vinnie affectionately calls “Blondie” — worked for lads’ TV channel Men & Motors, where Vinnie also hosted his own show in the 1990s.
She posed for racy snaps in her undies to promote her show, Emma’s A-Z Of American Sex, and was also a team captain on gameshow A Question Of Sex in 2003.
She once appeared in a magazine ad for fashion firm Urban Stone, with her photos taken by erotic snapper Bob Carlos Clarke, who is said to have regarded her as his “muse”.
Like Vinnie, actress Emma later moved to Los Angeles for work, and after many years of partying hard in the US, she quit booze.
In Vinnie’s Discovery+ show, which first aired in November, she is seen helping him run his farm in Petworth, West Sussex.
Insiders told The Sun their relationship was “very organic” and blossomed from a working friendship into a romance — and pals were “thrilled” when they revealed they had become a couple.
Vinnie’s love life development has intertwined with a resurgence in his acting career.
He has reunited with director Guy Ritchie — who gave Vinnie his film debut in gangster movie Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels 26 years ago — on The Gentlemen.
Vinnie won the Empire Award for Best Newcomer for his role as Big Chris — and he starred for Guy again two years later as bounty hunter Bullet-Tooth Tony in Snatch.
This time, Guy has cast him as Geoff Seacombe, the loyal groundskeeper to an aristocratic crime family in Netflix mega-hit The Gentlemen.
The eight-parter, featuring Theo James as the Duke of Halstead, dropped on March 7 and blew its competition out the water — with 12.2million views in its first week.
The show — a spin-off of Guy’s 2019 film of the same name — has been viewed 44million times in the UK alone.
The director said of casting Vinnie again: “There’s been a hole in my soul in the shape of Vinnie Jones for the last 20 years. I was so happy to have him back.”
And he has been rewarded for giving Vinnie another shot — with the actor gaining plaudits for his role.
Queen Camilla’s son Tom Parker Bowles said: “The Gentlemen is the first thing I’ve binged for ages. Pure joy. But Vinnie Jones . . . god he’s good.”
Vinnie said: “Guy and myself have come a long, long way since the Lock, Stock and Snatch days.
“I think he was warmed that I was on the set and I was warmed that we were reunited.
“I’d reunited with Matthew Vaughn a few years ago on Kingsman, so it was just wonderful.
“It’s like your brother’s directing it and you’re in a movie. That’s kind of how it is. That’s really the best way to describe it.”
Vinnie’s acting career has frequently seen him play a tough guy — mirroring his image from his footie playing days, when he formed part of Wimbledon’s “Crazy Gang” side who caused a huge upset to beat Liverpool and win the 1988 FA Cup.
A famous press photograph from 1987 that perhaps best captures his reputation is that of him acquainting himself with a young Paul Gascoigne in a not-so-gentlemanly way — by grabbing his privates as they clashed on the pitch.
Vinnie retired from football in 1999 while playing for Queens Park Rangers, with 13 red cards to his name.
He has also previously been caught up in trouble off the field — which he blames on his addiction to alcohol.
In 1995 he bit a journalist’s nose in a Dublin bar in what he claimed was a “prank gone wrong”.
In 1998 he was convicted of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and criminal damage after drunkenly beating up his neighbour.
I grew up in an era when mental health wasn’t even a thing, yet it’s something I struggled with without realising. Now I want to empower men and women to talk about it
Vinnie Jones
Five years later, he got community service for attacking a passenger on a plane while drunk and claiming he could have the flight’s crew “murdered for £3,000”.
Watford-born Vinnie — who turns 60 next January — has said he was “19 or 20” before he had his first drink, but he quickly became hooked on it.
He said of the toll of booze addiction: “It’s all rot. You’re rotting from the inside out. I didn’t talk about it to anybody.”
This week, though, he is celebrating 11 years of sobriety by playing golf in the sunshine of Palm Springs, Florida.
And Vinnie is fronting a mental health campaign to encourage football fans to talk more.
In a video for the campaign with his former club Chelsea and the Samaritans, Vinnie says in a team talk: “Huddle up, everyone. Enough is enough — it’s time to chat.
“I grew up in an era when mental health wasn’t even a thing, yet it’s something I struggled with without realising. Now I want to empower men and women to talk about it.
“To those of us that love football, we need to use those connections we have made to talk about more than just football. If I can do it, then you can too.”
Vinnie’s latest character Geoff — though sometimes seen handling a shotgun — is calm, quiet, caring and polite, never forgetting to address his boss with “your grace”.
It is a far cry from the stereotypical Vinnie role, but one that appears to reflect his character in real life.
And it may be one that proves to be the launch pad for a new chapter of success in his screen career.
He is in advanced talks to play gangster Danny Driscoll in the Only Fools musical and has called in some of his old footie pals for cameos — including ex-Chelsea ace Dennis Wise.
And the calls for a second series of The Gentlemen are already growing louder.
A source said: “Vinnie is more in-demand than he has ever been, thanks to the show’s success.
“He would no doubt be brilliant in the musical too — even though no one has heard his singing voice!”
After five painful years, this ex-footballer and now genteel gangster groundskeeper is headed for greener pastures once more.
