Sol has designs on new girl

Sol's older woman Kelly
Nicole Lampert13 April 2012

She is certainly not the typical idea of a footballer's girlfriend. Intelligent, well-educated, hard-working and wealthy, interior designer Kelly Hoppen is more at home in high society than on the soccer terraces.


The twice-married brunette is also 15 years older than her new boyfriend, England defender Sol Campbell.

Yet, despite some disapproval from friends, the couple have been dating since Christmas and made their relationship public this week with a visit to The Ivy restaurant in London.

They are said to be spending most nights together and sources close to the 29-yearold Arsenal star - who was falsely rumoured in the past to be gay - say he is very much in love.

Miss Hoppen is said to make him laugh and he likes the fact she is not a 'bimbo'.

Meanwhile, she has told friends she is 'in lust' with the 6ft 2in sporting hero and has even been widely hinting that she is hoping they will get engaged.

But the two could not come from more different backgrounds. Miss Hoppen, a selfmade millionaire, was born in South Africa and

grew up in Chelsea. She started interior designing at 17, credits herself with inventing the 'East meets West' style and has written several best-selling design books.

The successful business she has built up, including a shop and design school, is believed to be worth £30million. Though not a celebrity herself, she has worked for a host of stars, from Elton John to the Duchess of York.

She was married briefly to London restaurateur Graham Corrett, with whom she has a 20-year-old daughter, Natasha, and then to investment banker Ed Miller for 15 years, the father of Jude Law's girlfriend, Sienna Miller.

By contrast, Campbell had a tough upbringing in London's East End, one of 11 brothers and sisters. His mother worked shifts in a car factory canteen to make ends meet while his father worked on the railways.

He joined Tottenham Hotspur at 14 and

attended the FA's School of Excellence. In 2001, he moved to Arsenal, where he earns £100,000 a week.

A source close to the player said yesterday that the couple are very close.

'Sol either stays at her house most nights or she is at his,' he added. 'They have a lot of fun together.

'Sol doesn't talk about her that much - he's not the kind of man that talks about his feelings.

'But he has made it clear that he loves the fact that Kelly is not the normal bimbo who footballers tend to hook up with. He says she is very witty and she makes him laugh.' Campbell has spoken in the past about his search for 'someone who wants to settle down'. Friends saying he is determined to start a family.

Miss Hoppen shares with the footballer a passion for fitness and designer clothes.

'We have an animal magnetism that is amazing,' she told a friend, who said not everyone shares Miss Hoppen's enthusiasm for the player.

'Some of her friends are a bit snobbish and don't understand what she sees in him.' However, the friend said the age gap would not bother the couple. 'Sol is pretty mature for his age, while Kelly has always had a young outlook on life.

'They might look like a pretty odd couple, but they don't see it like that. All they are aware of is this amazing attraction between them.'

The pair met at a mutual friend's wedding just before Christmas and swopped phone numbers. Campbell had just split up from Tamzin Proctor.

He is hoping to pursue a career in acting once he leaves Arsenal, after getting a taste for it with a cameo role in ITV's Footballers' Wives.

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