Ryan Giggs agrees he 'wanted to have his cake and eat it' as he admits serial infidelity in court

Former footballer Ryan Giggs has told a jury he has never been faithful in any of his romantic relationships, but he has never assaulted a woman.

Giving evidence for the first time, Giggs told the court he begun a relationship with Kate Greville, who he is accused of assaulting, while still married.

When asked if he was faithful to his wife, the former Manchester United player and Wales boss replied "No, I wasn't".

Manchester Crown Court heard Ms Greville, who was also married, left her husband six months after meeting Giggs, but it took him another year before he left his wife, Stacey.

When asked why it had taken so long, Giggs told defence barrister Chris Daw QC: "Me and my ex-wife we had problems. I cheated on my ex-wife which was quite a public affair.

"We got over that and things were good.

"It was a part of my life where I was just finishing football and going into a coaching career. Longer hours, more time away from Stacey, more time away from the family.

"I was not giving Stacey the attention she deserved.

"Gradually we were getting more and more unhappy. Together with Kate it was becoming more and more difficult."

Mr Daw said: "Cutting to the chase, did you in a sense want to have your cake and eat it?"

Giggs replied: "Yes."

Giggs is accused of assaulting his ex-partner Ms Greville, 38, and her younger sister Emma Greville, 26.

The 48-year-old also denies using controlling and coercive behaviour against Kate Greville.

The former Wales international was asked if he agreed he was "well known" the world over for being a footballer.

Mr Daw added: "But you are also known for something else, you have a reputation for infidelity. Is that reputation justified?"

Giggs replied: "Yes."

Mr Daw continued: "In the course of your relationships with women, up to and including Ms Greville, have you managed to be faithful to any of them?"

"No," said Giggs.

The barrister asked: "If an attractive woman has shown you interest regardless of your marital status, are you able to resist?"

Giggs replied: "No."

He agreed he was a "flirt by nature" and confirmed he lied to his ex-wife Stacey and Ms Greville about his infidelities.

Turning to the allegations for which he is on trial, Mr Daw asked: "Have you ever physically assaulted a woman?"

"No," replied Giggs.

Mr Daw went on: "Either on 1 November 2020 or on any other occasion?"

Giggs repeated: "No."

Mr Daw then asked: "Have you ever set out to control or coerce a woman in any way or in the ways alleged by Ms Greville?"

Again, Giggs replied: "No."

Mr Daw asked: "Did you make Kate Greville a slave to your every need and every demand as she described?"

Giggs replied: "I did not."

Giggs told jurors how rows with Ms Greville like one he had in a Dubai hotel corridor were a "regular" feature of their relationship.

He was asked about the incident at the Westin Hotel in Dubai in 2017, when Ms Greville has claimed Giggs dragged her naked body across the floor of his hotel room before throwing her belongings into a corridor.

After "getting on really well" that evening, Giggs claimed matters took a turn when he was texting his daughter Libby.

"I just got a bit irritated because she (Kate) was making it quite obvious she was peering over my shoulder," he added.

"It felt like she didn’t believe it was Libby who I was messaging," Giggs said, adding that when he "stormed off" to his hotel room, Ms Greville "followed him back" and a row started.

Giggs denied any "physical element" to the argument and said he started packing Ms Greville’s suitcase after telling her he did not want her to stay with him.

"I didn’t manage to shut it (the case) but I was ushering her towards the front door with the suitcase," he said.

He said they were "half outside", between the corridor and the room, before Ms Greville got back inside with her luggage.

Later they made up and "had sex that we would have quite often – which could get quite rough, but not anything weird, but just rough," said Giggs.

He added they would regularly "message each other what we were going to do".

Asked by Mr Daw if the incident was unusual in their "roller coaster-type" relationship, Giggs replied: "It wasn’t unusual but I wouldn’t say it was regular."

Ms Greville was appointed to a £100,000-a-year PR job for GG Hospitality, co-owned by Giggs and former United team-mate Gary Neville, and specifically to organise PR for the launch of their new initiative, the Stock Exchange hotel and restaurant.

At about the same time in January 2019, Giggs was interviewed and got his "dream job" of manager of the Wales football team.

Giggs was then asked about how the couple would row, then "block" each other, with the ex-footballer saying "it was immature", but denying it was an effort to control Ms Greville.

His barrister asked about why Giggs sent Ms Greville an email with the subject Blackmail, and a video attached, of her dancing to Christmas songs.

Giggs replied: "It was just a joke between me and Kate.

"Just dancing embarrassingly, something which was out of her nature, acting silly at a Christmas party."

He told the court he had "never" shared any private photos or videos of Ms Greville.

Earlier, jurors heard how, in a prepared statement, Giggs told detectives his "head clashed" with his girlfriend’s during a "scuffle" over a mobile phone at his home, but the blow was "not deliberate".

Giggs denies wrongdoing and the trial continues.