Amir Khan’s wife has hit back at claims she threatened to “destroy” an ex-BBC presenter who accused her husband of making sexual advances towards her.
Suzi Mann, who previously hosted the BBC’s Official Asian Music Chart Show, claims she met Amir at an event in Manchester in 2016 and he later began texting her and making late-night phone calls to try and meet up after getting hold of her number.
She has since shared screenshots of a Twitter conversation she claims is Amir's wife Faryal Makhdoom messaging her through Amir’s account, in which she allegedly tells Suzi: “This is Amir Khan’s wife. Stay the f*** away from my husband... if you dare message or call him I will destroy you. Keep the f*** away and I’m serious.”
The presenter said she made her communication with Amir public to “help other women come forward and understand the Khans' negative pattern of behaviour”, but has since been subjected to “abuse by fake accounts with threatening and vile comments”. Now Faryal has appeared to address Suzi’s claims after Amir – who has been embroiled in sexting scandals in the past – reportedly denied the allegations and said he doesn’t remember meeting her, claiming she is “jumping on the bandwagon”.
“This is all untrue. Amir has denied the accusations and doesn’t even remember this woman. What’s confusing is, why has it taken her several years to address this? She claims I said I’d ‘destroy’ her... It’s a load of rubbish. I’ve never messaged on Twitter – I don’t even remember seeing this woman’s face,” Faryal told The Sun.
EastEnders' Jake Wood's snap of son has fans pointing out the pair's likenessThe allegations surfaced earlier this week when Suzi posted a picture of herself and former I'm A Celebrity star Amir, which has since been taken down from Instagram. Alongside it, she wrote: "I first met Amir Khan in 2016 whilst I was hosting Arijit Singh in Manchester! A couple of days after the concert, I started receiving WhatsApp messages from an unknown number, with someone claiming to be Amir Khan! I immediately had to ask, actor or boxer? Unfortunately, it was the latter!
"On a more serious note, these messages continued and then I started to receive calls and voicemails from himself. Now I've been in this industry too long to not know when someone is flirting and making sexual advances. This was not something I felt comfortable with and I chose to not entertain it, but remained professional."
Her claims come in the wake of Amir's separation from his wife Faryal, who he shares three children with after the boxer reportedly begged a model for photos while asking her to meet up with him. Admitting he shouldn't have "commented on this woman’s picture saying ‘nice’", Amir said he is ready to get help for his sexting problem.
He told The Sun: "Maybe I do need help to stop me from messaging other women. I am willing to go to therapy to stop me sending texts to women who aren’t my wife. I think nowadays with mental health issues, any help goes a long way. It’s definitely something I would do. Things like that do help, so maybe it’s something to think about.”
Faryal is said to have confronted her husband at their home in Dubai in July after she heard about him begging a model for saucy pictures. "U look good on g string," Amir reportedly wrote in one of the messages. He also promised to delete any received photos. Reports claim Amir and Faryal are now splitting their time between England and Dubai while continuing to co-parent their children, but have not yet filed for divorce as the model decides whether or not their marriage is definitely over.
The Mirror has contacted Amir's reps for comment on this story.
* This story has been amended after publication to clarify that Suzi Mann claimed Amir Khan made 'sexual advances' and was not accusing him of 'sexual harassment'.