Viewers have been left reeling from the dramatic events uncovered in Netflix’s latest documentary The Footballer, His Wife and the Crash.
Previously released by ITV in 2022, the documentary follows the story of sportsman Jlloyd Samuel – who died in 2018 after a collision with a lorry led his Range Rover to burst into flames.
Samuel played in the Premier League between 1999 and 2010. He is best known for a nine-year spell at Aston Villa, where he made 169 Premier League appearances predominantly at left-back. He also represented England at youth level before switching to Trinidad and Tobago at senior level, winning two senior international caps.
Following Samuel’s death, his wife Emma Pritchard – who he shared three children and lived with in Cheshire – was shocked to learn the Premier League player had married another woman who he met while playing in Iran for Esteghlal in 2011.
In social media posts following his death, singer Helia Sahimi called Samuel “the best husband I could have ever asked for”. It later transpired Samuel had married Sahimi in 2013 – five years after he’d married Pritchard.
The player’s first wife told the documentary: “I was trying to grieve my husband and find he has another life. Who is my husband - do I really know him?”
Viewers of the The Footballer, His Wife and the Crash documentary have been left similarly dumbfounded. “This documentary is crazy. It’s insane how a person can lead a double life so easily,” one person wrote on X/Twitter, while another added Samuel’s story is “wild”.
“I’m still speechless!” another shocked fan wrote. “How do men do these things? Not only cheating on your wife but marrying you side chick in a whole new country?”
Samuel reportedly converted to Islam to marry Sahimi and introduced her to Pritchard as a “fortune teller” when she flew over to visit him in Dubai. Pritchard only uncovered the truth following Samuel’s death when Helia posted about their relationship on social media.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Following the footballer’s fatal crash in 2018, Samuel’s sister Leslie-Ann claimed his death had been faked by Pritchard, despite a coroner ruling the body belonged to the footballer.
Following an inquest in November 2019, Samuel was found to have been more than twice the drink-driving limit when his car veered onto the wrong side of the road and collided into a lorry.
Sahimi still claims in The Footballer, His Wife and the Crash she believes Samuel is not dead. She told the documentary: “I believe my husband is still alive.”
