MICHAEL OWEN was driven into counselling to save his marriage over jealousy surrounding his daughter Gemma.
The Three Lions star admitted that his mental state on retiring from the game was so precarious, he became enraged over everything — including his wife Louise’s close relationship with their eldest.
Now Gemma, 19, is becoming a star in her own right in the Love Island villa.
Writing in his 2020 autobiography Reboot, the dad-of-four said: “To my surprise, I found myself standing at a figurative cliff edge in 2014.
“A lifetime of that certain type of mentality, of behaviour, had led me to a point where I had to seek professional help . . .
“For years, because of my own inner demons, I was intentionally really hard on Louise about subjects that I knew would push her buttons most — not least her close relationship with our daughter Gemma.”
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Michael continued: “Let me be very clear and say that none of this was in any way a reflection on how I felt about either Gemma or Louise. I love them both with all of me.
“I’d take everything out on Louise, though. I’d accuse her of spending all her time with her eldest and ignoring the other kids.
“It wasn’t even true.”
Finally, with help from a doctor from Michael’s Manchester United days, he and Louise went to a counsellor together and then he continued alone.
He added: “I stared into an abyss called divorce, panicking . . .
“The whole process was a revelation.”
The passage offers a peek inside a father-daughter relationship that has become the unlikely focal point of this year’s Love Island.
Michael has spoken of his great pride at his “clever and funny and kind, loyal and decent” daughter.
But he’s also, on podcast Walking The Dog, branded her “horrible” when the dressage rider is faced with competition.
Speaking this weekend in an interview about Gemma’s role on the ITV2 show, Michael said: “She’s still our baby. I’m still my parents’ baby and I’m 42! It’s how it is.”
It comes as The Sun can reveal Gemma is being lined up for her own TV show after leaving the villa.
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TV bosses are keen to sign her up for a fly-on-the-wall style show which tells the story of her life as the daughter of Michael Owen.
Producers believe following Gemma around the posh Cheshire hangouts as well as her travels to Dubai would make it a ratings sensation.
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