Tuesday, July 13, 2010
'I just want it to be over': Ashley Cole's student friend left 'devastated' by claims she had pursued the footballer on holiday
By Simon Cable
One of the young students seen cavorting with Ashley Cole broke down in tears and said her life had been 'wrecked', following revelations of her wild partying and suggestions she had enjoyed an intimate friendship with the footballer.
University student Elle Hartley, 20, says she has been left devastated at claims she is a wannabe WAG who pursued Cole while he is on a boozy holiday in Los Angeles with England team-mate Shaun Wright-Phillips.
It emerged last week that Hartley was embroiled in a scandal when she was just 15, after an ex-boyfriend circulated mobile phone footage in which she performed a sex act on herself while she was a student at the exclusive £10,000-a-year Sheffield School for Girls.
Devastated: Elle Hartley (right) with her friend Melissa Naik out in Los Angeles this week. Elle denies anything happened between her and Ashley Cole
It was also revealed she was at the centre of a police probe when she was just 14, after a topless photograph of her taken in a nightclub ended up in a downmarket lads magazine.The publication were forced to issue an apology after her furious headteacher contacted police.
Miss Hartley has acknowledged both incidents, claiming she was 'ashamed' and saying she would learn from her 'juvenile mistakes'.
However, this weekend she burst into tears when asked about her relationship with the shamed footballer Cole.
Speaking to the Daily Mail at the Mondrian Hotel in west Hollywood, where she is currently on holiday, Miss Hartley sobbed: 'I can't believe this has happened to me. My holiday has been ruined and it's wrecked my life.
Friendly: Elle's best friend Melissa by the pool at the Mondrian Hotel with Cole last week
'I just want it all to be over. Nothing happened between me and Ashley. I'm just trying to enjoy myself and this happens.
'People have been saying the most horrible things. I just want it to be over.'
Miss Hartley jetted to the US with friend Melissa Naik, also 20. The pair had been celebrating finishing their second-year university exams.
The two women were pictured in skimpy bikinis laughing and joking with the England and Chelsea defender, who is enjoying a boozy holiday at a £450-a-night hotel on Sunset Boulevard, while his estranged wife Cheryl is recovering from malaria in London.
It has also emerged that Miss Hartley has been in discussions with PR guru Max Clifford in recent days.
Miss Hartley and Miss Niak - who is studying at university in Manchester - had first met Cole at the Jet Black nightclub in central London, a venue which classifies itself as a 'modern day Moulin Rouge'.
They are said to be well-known on the capital's club scene and amongst a number of footballers.
No romance: Elle said she and the footballer are just friends and she has been left upset by claims she had pursued him
Meanwhile, Ashley Cole - whose estranged wife Cheryl Cole is continuing to recover from malaria - has broken his silence over his behaviour while in California and defended himself, insisting: 'I'm not sleeping with anyone.'
When asked about his relationship with the two students he shocked onlookers in the local Les Deux nightclub, where he was downing cocktails with a gaggle of young ladies, by screaming: 'Just leave me and my girls alone. Get the f*** out of here or I'll put you in a f***ing brace.
'People thinking I'm sleeping around and romping with women. It's all lies. I'm just trying to enjoying myself.
'These two girls lives are being ruined by this whole thing.'
Lies: Ashley, pictured here with holiday buddy and fellow footballer Sean Wright Phillips in Los Angeles, denied that anything had happened between him and Elle
Miss Hartley's mother Susan has also defended her daughter and Miss Naik, saying: 'They have both read the stories on the internet and been a little bit upset.
Miss Hartley will start the third and final year of a fashion course at the London College of Fashion in September.
Mrs Hartley added: 'She likes to go out and she loves fashion.
'She likes to dress up, she likes to wear high heels and short dresses. But she has to work hard at university. She would like to go into PR and has an internship lined up at a high end fashion designer when she gets back.'
Source: Mail Online