'I rode on David Beckham's coat tails'

Michael Owen reveals how teammate Becks influenced his fashion journey and why he never gives daughter Gemma style advice

- NICK MCGRATH

Perhaps aptly for a former striker, Michael Owen isn’t backward in coming forward with his views when we meet for our exclusive chat.

The England hero turned football pundit, who’s been married to his childhood sweetheart for 18 years, is refreshingly unfiltered about everything from his wife Louise’s apathy about his achievements on the pitch – “she’s never put me on a pedestal,” he says – to his daughter Gemma’s Love Island appearance.

Born when her dad was playing for Real Madrid, Gemma has been surrounded by autograph hunters and selfie seekers her entire life, so it was little surprise the dressage rider chose to enter the villa last summer.

“I wasn’t that keen,” admits Michael, who recently made his own reality TV debut as an oversized foam doughnut on The Masked Singer. “But I knew as soon as she said, ‘You know what, I’m probably favouring doing it,’ that she wouldn’t bring shame to me or the family, or anything like that, as she’s bombproof.

“She was the youngest on there, but I thought she was the most mature out of all of them. She was always there to talk to other people, and I think she did really well. It’s not the easiest thing to go away from your family for such a long time and behave like she did.”

Michael says he’s a confidante for his daughter, who is big sister to Jessica, 13, Emily, 16, and 17-year-old James. “The day-to-day chit chat, she’ll do with her mum, whereas I’ll just get asked my opinion once every blue moon, but when she does ask, we'll have an in-depth conversation about it."