Inside Anthony Joshua’s myserious love life with Bella Hadid rumours and affair allegation
Anthony Joshua has led an electrifying life inside the boxing ring, but his love life outside it has garnered almost as much interest. The 36-year-old is preparing to take on YouTube sensation turned boxer Jake Paul this weekend, with the pair squaring up in Miami.
Joshua exploded onto the world stage at the London 2012 Olympics, winning a gold medal. He has since held the WBA, IBF and WBO heavyweight titles and has defeated icons such as Wladimir Klitschko and Joseph Parker during his illustrious career.
The heavyweight king has gone to great lengths to keep his personal life out of the spotlight, however. What is known is that the fighter has never married and was previously caught up in a scandal with fellow boxer Amir Khan, after Khan claimed his wife, Faryal Makhdoom, had conducted an affair with Joshua – allegations Joshua has strongly refuted.
While Joshua’s romantic relationships have stayed mostly under wraps, he is known to be the father of a son named Joseph “JJ” Joshua. Joseph’s mother is Nicole Osbourne, a former dancer who now works as a yoga instructor.
Joshua was linked to supermodel Bella Hadid in 2017, with several media sources reporting the pair were dating. TV personality and radio presenter Vick Hope was also rumoured to be romantically linked with Joshua around 2018, although no formal relationship was ever confirmed and she married DJ Calvin Harris in 2023.
Joshua has been romantically connected with the stunning Moroccan model and influencer Samia Slimani this year. Rumours about their romance intensified when photographs emerged on Instagram during Joshua’s visit to Morocco.
However, it was the heated confrontation with Khan that almost spiralled completely out of control. The controversy erupted when Khan turned to social media, claiming that Joshua was involved in an affair with his wife, Makhdoom.
In his incendiary tweet, Khan wrote: “Lol moved up in the weight classes lol. Trust me I ain’t the jealous type. No need to send me pictures of the men you’re talking to #Disgusted.
“Left my family and friends for this Faryal. I’m not hurt but another fighter. I’m making it public. You getting the divorce #Golddigger. Mans like Joshua can have my leftovers!”
Joshua vehemently rejected the accusations. Khan has since voiced profound regret over destroying his friendship with Joshua, acknowledging he was struggling with personal issues at the time.
Speaking on The Overlap, Khan said: “I was in the papers for crazy stuff. Messing about with women, chilling out with this girl, chilling out with that girl. I was going through a bit of a mad time myself. I wanted to leave my wife then.
“I had the problem with Anthony Joshua which I feel really bad for because at the end of the day I put him in the firing line for no reason,” and added: “I mean, he was a friend of mine and since then we’ve never spoken.
“So, I lost a good friend through that as well. The guy did nothing wrong and I kind of just stuck it on him really, What happened was, my wife – me and her were not talking – and she sent a message saying, ‘Look, so many fighters are messaging me’.
“And because she showed me a message of Anthony Joshua saying hi to her or something, I lost it. I said, ‘Who the hell’s he, saying hi to my wife.’ Even though he was cool with me. Maybe he was just being respectful, all he was being respectful. Nothing ever happened.”
The highly anticipated bout between Joshua and Paul is scheduled for Friday, December 19. The fight will unfold at the Kaseya Center in Miami, with the main event anticipated to begin around 3.30am UK time, available to stream live on Netflix.
