A picture of Andy Carroll lying on a pillow next to a woman has gone viral... just days before his wedding to Billi Mucklow.
Yet the photo is just a bit harmless fun as part of the nine-cap England international's stag do in Dubai. Carroll is set to marry The Only Way is Essex star Billi in June - nearly eight years after the former Liverpool striker popped the question.
Carroll's awkward picture with bar manager Taylor Jane Wilkey was taken after a day of partying at Dubai's Cove Beach club. It's reported he invited her and two mates to another venue before going back to his hotel for an afterparty.
That's when the picture of Carroll passed out next to Taylor is said to have been taken, as well as another image of her wearing his personalised robe.
"It was an afterparty," Taylor told The Sun. "We all went back to his hotel. There was me, Andy and my female friend. I didn’t sleep with him, it wasn’t like that, there was three of us in the room. It was a full day and night of drinking. We’d been at Cove Beach since 12, it was a really boozy day. Andy was steaming, we were all drunk."
Taylor went on to explain: "We went back to Andy’s hotel suite and we played some music and he got into bed and passed out. I was there with my friend until the early hours and took the photo as a joke.
"My mates back home were goading me for the lowdown so I took that picture for a laugh and sent it to them. Nothing sexual happened. It was just a bit of banter."
Carroll - who has just been released by West Brom - was in Dubai to gatecrash Billi's hen do before kicking off his own stag do celebrations when his other half jetted back to England. The striker's former Newcastle team-mates Mark Gillespie and Paul Dummett were reportedly part of the stag do.
But friends of Andy and Billi told The Sun: "This is embarrassing with the wedding so close... nothing dreadful happened. This is all very bad timing with the wedding so close."
Mirror Football have contacted Billi's management team for comment.
Carroll is currently a free agent. The 33-year-old has experienced plenty of ups and downs during his career - including becoming the most expensive British footballer of all time when he joined Liverpool in January 2011 for £35million, a record that's since been broken.
Carroll failed to make the grade at Liverpool and has struggled with injuries throughout his career, making just 366 club appearances to date. Yet he still has an EFL Cup winners' medal from his time at Anfield and scored for England at Euro 2012.
