Footballers and other rich celebrities trying to gag the press have been given some advice from a favourite tabloid wag.

Vanessa Perroncel, the woman at the centre of the John Terry scandal before he was stripped of the England captaincy, says footballers who court the limelight should be prepared to take the rough headlines with the smooth.

And she warned that, instead of attempting to attain injunctions against newspapers, they would be better off issuing outright denials of stories delving into their private lives.

That’s despite the fact that Perroncel, who teamed up with Max Clifford in the midst of the scandal, remains defiant that reports of her affair with Terry were false.

She told MediaGuardian: “Why should these people be allowed to cherry pick what the newspapers write about them?

“I know how expensive it is to take out an injunction, and it’s not fair that footballers should be allowed to protect themselves because of their money.”

The government is reviewing privacy laws amid concerns that they are being formed exclusively by judges.

(Source: MediaGuardian)