Danielle Lloyd

Danielle Lloyd (born 16 December 1983, Liverpool) is an English lingerie and glamour model, and former Miss England (2004).

She was stripped of her title of Miss Great Britain 2006 after posing for nude pictures featured in the December 2006 of Playboy magazine, and her tabloid-alleged affair with one of the judges, her footballer boyfriend at that time Teddy Sheringham. As a participant in the 2007 series of Celebrity Big Brother, Lloyd, along with others, was accused of using bullying tactics and making racist comments directed against the Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. According to reports from the tabloid News of the World, Sheringham has decided to end his relationship with Lloyd as a result of her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother.

Danielle Lloyd was born in Penny Lane, Liverpool in 1983. Her parents, Jackie and Arthur Lloyd, work as a bank manager and an engineer, respectively. At the age of 3 months, Lloyd contracted whooping cough, resulting in damage to her lungs. This led to her developing asthma.

The headmaster of Lloyd's old school, St Hilda’s, Chris Yates said: "There’s no recollection of her ever being persecuted and no teacher can ever recall any incidents where Danielle was bullied. In fact I’ve been lead to believe by her former friends that the opposite is true."

On November 2, 2006, she was stripped of her title “following recent claims in the press and magazines and the publicity given on the Playboy Web site for their next issue", according to the MissGreat Britain website. The claim they were referring to was that Lloyd had been dating Teddy Sheringham, who was one of the judges of the pageant, for more than two months before her victory. This was reported by the media after she allegedly said in an interview that Sheringham bought her a pair of shoes for Christmas. Lloyd continues to claim that the relationship started after the pageant, and that the interview was made up. She attributes her topless shoot for the December 2006 issue of Playboy as the primary reason for the loss of her title.

On 11 January 2007 it was revealed that Lloyd was being sued by the Miss Great Britain company for breaking her contract and bringing the company into disrepute. The company is asking for full revelation of the sums she earned for the Playboy pictures, plus costs.

Lloyd made a memorable appearance on BBC One's Test the Nation. When asked "Who was Winston Churchill - a rapper, US President, the PM or King?", Lloyd answered "Wasn't he the first black president of America? There's a statue of him near me - that's black."

Lloyd has recently appeared in FHM and Maxim magazines and before the Big Brother racism row wrote a column for celebrityspotlight.co.uk.

Lloyd was the second housemate to enter the Big Brother House, and had amongst her possessions a blue teddy bear doused in Sheringham's aftershave.

Lloyd garnered significant negative publicity when thousands of complaints were filed with Ofcom after she, Jade Goody and Jo O'Meara, dubbed "The Witches (or Bitches) of Elstree" were accused of bullying and making racist remarks towards their fellow house mate, Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.

This behaviour also created an international outcry gaining heavy coverage in the Indian media. Gordon Brown, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer visiting India at the time, condemned the programme on the grounds that he is against anything which might damage the perception that the United Kingdom is a country of tolerance. In a statement on January 17 Channel 4 defended the programme against charges "of overt racism or racial abuse".

Lloyd's aunt directly accused her of racism, adding "It was disgusting the way Danielle treated Shilpa. I'm surprised Big Brother didn't throw her out of the house."

A newspaper interview made before Celebrity Big Brother, from November 2006, revealed Lloyd's anti-immigration views: "If I was (a politician), I'd get more people into work and stop people coming into the country. There's so many people who come into England because they know they can get benefits. People who already live here should get the jobs".

Lloyd’s mother said in the News of the World that her family has been “destroyed” by the racist row: "Danielle is at the start of her career and facing ruin because of a TV show that she thought was going to be entertaining and fun. Everything's been taken away from her as well. It has destroyed the family. I'm regretting she went in. Danielle has got a lot of questions to answer when she gets out." She denied her daughter was a racist, claiming: "She will be distraught but she's got to take responsibility. She's been stupid and naive and she's guilty of that (but) I know she didn't mean any racial connotations when she told Shilpa to go home. Danielle's been brought up amongst family friends of all different races. I swear she isn't racist."

Danielle has agreed in an attempt to revive her popularity to go on a 'date' with a competition winner. The Daily Star in promoting the article discusses how she wears 'plunging vest top and miniskirt.' when on a date and will willingly attend at any public house of the entrant's choice.

Danielle Lloyd helped open a mobile phone safety campaign after her own mobile was stolen in a Liverpool club. The Keep It Safe & Secure campaign, backed by the National Mobile Phone Crime Unit encourages mobile users to take greater safety precautions when using their phone.