Chocolate boy but more than a pretty face

“You are a sweet like chocolate boy, sweet like chocolate, You bring me so much joy, you’re sweet like chocolate...”

If one were to pick a song by which to identify the England football star, Michael Owen, the Shanks and Bigfoot number ‘Sweet Like Chocolate’ would fit the bill perfectly. (Hold it boys, this was meant for the women).

Forget what he can do with the football (we all knew he’d be a super star from the moment he arrived on the world scene). It’s the face that steals a million female and ‘male’ hearts.

Former Cosmopolitan magazine editor Marcelle D’Argy Smith included Michael Owen alongside David Beckham and George Clooney when asked, what was the perfect male face, from a woman’s point of view. We couldn’t agree more.  Only problem with Michael, girls, is that he is taken (sigh), like all the decent men of any consequence are.

He married his girlfriend Louise Bonsall in June 2005, two years after the birth of their daughter Gemma Rose (in May 2003). The couple had initially planned to get married at their home, Lower Soughton Hall but changed plans when they were informed that if a licence was granted for a marriage ceremony the venue must be made available for other weddings for three years.

Their son, James Michael Owen, was born on February 6 this year. Michael and Louise had been engaged since Valentine’s Day 2004, and had known each other since starting primary school in 1984. So, in the sense, he was never available.

Like father, like son?
Interestingly, soon after Michael’s son James was born, odds of 200/1 were being offered on him playing for England. Betting firm Ladbrokes offered the price after being flooded with requests from punters that he will follow in his father’s footsteps.

It offered odds of 50/1 on him playing for Liverpool (Michael’s club before he joined Real Madrid) and 100/1 on him taking to the pitch for either Newcastle or Real Madrid.

Michael’s image as the perfect family man totally works in his favour. He has never let the party-going night life affect him.

Low point: However, he has had his share of troubles too. The 2003-04 season with Liverpool being the biggest low point both on the professional and personal front.

In January that year, Michael’s fiancée, Louise Bonsall, fell off a horse and was in the hospital for three weeks.

Only two weeks after the riding accident, Michael’s four-month pregnant sister Karen was the target of an attempted kidnapping. Two men tried to forcefully take her while she was in her car but her screams drew attention of passer-bys who chased away the assailants.

As if this was not enough, reports of Michael’s struggle with a serious gambling addiction surfaced in March. He admitted to a love for horse racing, and it also came out that he lost around 40,000 pounds on the ponies in 2003.

Michael has still not been able to do away with the addiction, now involving strike partner Wayne Rooney in the same too. The two were alleged to have a bust up over this. This followed when a woman began spreading rumours about Michael to the media. She claimed the two had been involved in sex games in a hotel room in October. The allegations, of course, were false.

Despite all this, Owen remains one of the ‘nicer men’ of the footballing world. He is also training for a helicopter pilot’s licence, to enable him to fly his own aircraft. The chocolate boy who can fly. He brings us so much joy.