Ex claims Tindall blonde 'set-up'

Jonathan Dixon. Photo / Otago Daily Times

The former girlfriend and mother of Jonathan Dixon's teenage daughter believes the mystery blonde filmed flirting with England's rugby captain Mike Tindall may have been a set-up.

Former Spartar Security guard Dixon made international headlines after posting closed-circuit TV footage on YouTube of Tindall being kissed by a woman at Altitude Bar in Queenstown.

Dixon appeared in Queenstown District Court this week, charged with accessing a computer system and dishonestly obtaining video surveillance footage. He did not enter a plea and was remanded on bail.

Nik Watts told the Herald on Sunday the woman looked like another Dixon ex-girlfriend, named Lucy.

"When I looked at the video footage I thought the girl might have looked like his ex-girlfriend and I thought, 'oh hang on a minute they might have set that up. Is that Lucy, have they set this up'?" Watts said.

A close friend of Zara Phillips had said the blonde was a mutual friend of the couple who lived in Australia and she had no concerns about the footage.

But, British tabloid The Sun claimed Phillips asked her husband for the woman's number when she arrived in Dunedin this week so she could "hear from the horse's mouth" that nothing more happened. Tindall reportedly told her he didn't have the woman's number - despite their so-called friendship.

Tindall's father Phil told British media he didn't recognise the woman but believed his son was a faithful husband.

Facebook messages between Dixon's friends suggested the YouTube clip may have been an act of revenge after England rugby team minders mocked him as a mere bouncer.

"He was Stoopid enuff to post the clip straight after he'd finished work ... & after being told by those looking after Mr Tindall that he was just a f*ing bouncer," his cousin Joe Koopu wrote.

Friend Phil Matia asked Dixon to confront the team about their black jerseys and break the legs of No 10 (Jonny Wilkinson) "just for fun".

Dixon replied "Oh me and Mr. Barnes will do so much better than that Bro."

Last week, Dixon's mother Joyce Dixon told the Herald on Sunday her son had been raised to respect women and had strong morals against cheating.

However, his ex-girlfriend Watts accused him of being unfaithful during their five-year relationship which ended 12 years ago.

"His mother knew he cheated on me because I dropped Tyla [daughter] off at her place that day so I could go and confront him and the other woman ... I know of the one he got caught for because he [Jonathan] admitted it," Watts said.

She said Tyla, 17, was embarrassed by her father who spoke in a "creepy calm" voice on the video clip.

"Tyla is completely embarrassed, the other day she said, 'thank God mum, I don't have his last name'. She just thinks he is a fool."

When the Herald on Sunday asked Dixon for comment, he offered an opportunity to say one word. The reporter said: "Jonathan..." then he cut in and said, "Chloe Johnson, that was your word". And hung up.

SEARCH FOR MYSTERY BLONDE GOES ON

The hunt for the mysterious blonde filmed with English captain Mike Tindall on his night out at Altitude Bar in Queenstown has been fraught with false leads.

First and foremost, it is certainly not the woman it should have been: His wife Zara Phillips.

Comments from a source, said to be close to Zara Phillips, claimed the girl in question was a family friend who attended their wedding. This led many reporters to the door of Lake Tekapo singer Bex Murray. Already linked to the English rugby team after she admitted seeing them at her brother's Branches Ranch in Queenstown, Murray laughed off the rumour.

Next, UK tabloids turned their attention to Janine Jefferis, 26, from Poole in Dorset, on a world trip and working in a Queenstown bar. Said Jefferis: "It wasn't me - I was there but they've all got the wrong girl."

Now, through Herald on Sunday inquiries, attention has turned to former Altitude Bar bouncer Jonathan Dixon's friend Lucy.