Italian lawyer Nancy Dell'Olio could not hold back her tears during a live TV interview as she discussed her last conversation with former partner Sven-Goran Eriksson.
The former England manager died earlier this week aged 76 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB) on Wednesday, 63-year-old Dell'Olio - who dated Eriksson for ten years before they split in 2007 - struggled to maintain her composure.
She told the breakfast show: “I just said he was trying to put in the effort to say that he was fine on the phone because most of the time he was not answering or at treatment.
“I never thought that he was about to die. I always believed there would be some sort of miracle. I’m sorry.”
GMB presenter Richard Madeley apologised to Dell'Olio as she couldn’t speak anymore and ended the interview.
During the chat, Dell'Olio revealed that she had remained in contact with Eriksson during his illness, which he first went public about in January.
She insisted that he would always sound "relaxed" and "laughing" as he would try to calm her worries.
She said: “It was hard, but he sounded so relaxed and we were laughing and he would just say ‘I feel okay’.
“It was quite difficult to even be talking but I tried to be fearless and see how he was. I wanted to get together for another dinner.”
Their decade-long romance was anything but plain sailing with Eriksson being outed publicly twice for cheating on her.
He had a four-month dalliance with fellow Swedish celebrity Ulrika Jonsson in 2002.
Then, two years later, Eriksson strayed again, having an affair with Football Association secretary Faria Alam, which prompted an FA scandal.
Reflecting on their time together, the former I’m A Celebrity contestant confessed to still loving Eriksson and that he was a "kind person”, adding: “I find it difficult being here talking about Sven knowing that he is not here with us anymore.
“He was loveable, when you love someone you will love them forever. He was a very kind person. He is more reserved and that is why the opposite always got attention.
“We connected he would say when he saw me the first time that he thought I was the one. For me, it was not the same as I was married, and it happened months later.”
