Peter Crouch escapes vice girl claims to find sanctuary at Tottenham training
Peter Crouch walked head bowed into Spurs lodge for training this morning, reeling from allegations that threaten his relationship with model presenter Abbey Clancy.
The England striker drove into Tottenham's complex in Chigwell behind a pair of shades, far from the jovial figure who celebrated goals by doing the robot dance or 'pulling the rope'.
Once among his team-mates, Crouch found time to joke and smile as he was put through his pre-season paces ahead of Saturday's season-opener against Manchester City.
Centre of a storm: Crouch drives in for Tottenham training this morning
The 6ft 7in striker Peter Crouch has been accused of cheating on her with a teenage prostitute.
The woman, who calls herself Monica Mint, claims Crouch paid her £800 for liaisons in the back of a taxi and at an £80-a-night hotel.
Last night Crouch's spokesman was unavailable and Tottenham refused to comment.
Clancy, 24, is said to be furious after hearing about her fiance's alleged betrayal and is believed to have called Crouch and screamed: 'I can't believe this. How could you humiliate me? Am I not good enough for you?'
And a friend of Abbey, who Crouch became engaged 13 months ago, said: 'Abigail is utterly devastated. How would anyone feel at learning that?'
Divide: Crouch turns up at training (left), the morning after Clancy was pictured in Manchester after a TV assignment
The couple have a home in Surrey but yesterday Clancy was away in Manchester filming her satellite series Great British Hairdresser.
She and Crouch spoke by phone yesterday but the friend said Clancy would not make any decision regarding their future until she had spoken with the footballer face-to-face.
A friend said: 'She tried to put a brave face on things and got through the day as best as she could like a professional but you could see she was in pieces from the news.
'Abbey doesn't know what to think and feels really hurt.'
And when she left filming last night she was still wearing her engagement ring.
The allegations against Crouch emerged as he was dropped from the England squad on Saturday following the team's World Cup failure and Spurs appeared to be moving towards selling him.
Smiles better: Crouch shares a lighter moment with team-mates
The affair is reported to have taken place after Crouch, 29, went on a stag weekend to Madrid ahead of the wedding of school friend Ed Aitkin.
The player, who has a £6million fortune, arrived in Spain on Friday, July 16 - a year to the day after he and Clancy announced their engagement.
The liaison with the 19-year-old Algerian-born prostitute is said to have taken place in the early hours of the next day after.
She was introduced to the footballer at the Buddha del Mar nightclub.
He began dancing with the girl before inviting her to join him and a group of friends in a roped-off area of the club, where they were drinking from a two-litre bottle of vodka and had already apparently had a bottle of champagne.
A friend of Crouch asked how much she charged before she and the £70,000-a-week footballer got into a taxi together. He counted out 1,000 euros in cash - worth about £850 - before she performed a sex act.
Mint said: 'We stopped at the traffic lights while I was doing what he wanted and he didn't seem to mind that people could have seen him.
Engaged: Crouch and Clancy enjoyed a romantic holiday in Sardinia last month
'Because he is so tall, his legs were squashed up and the driver was joking as out movements were shaking the seat.'
They then checked in to the three-star Rafael Hotel, where Crouch insisted the room was in the girl's name - but he had to pay with his credit card.
Mint told the News of the World Crouch was more pleasant than Spanish footballers she claims to have been with. 'Peter was humble and kind,' she said.
'The Spanish players are arrogant divas who treat me like a whore. I don't think Peter is good looking, but he is a nice person.'
She said she did not know he was engaged to Clancy, adding: 'I can't believe he paid for sex with someone like me when he has a gorgeous woman like her at home.'
Crouch started dating Clancy in 2006. They briefly split that summer when he sent her home from the World Cup in Germany after she was involved in a cocaine scandal.
She was then accused of cheating on him by rekindling a relationship with an ex-boyfriend after she had started dating Crouch.
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