Reality TV star Calum Best has an £85,000 tax bill to pay HMRC, adding to his legal troubles amid claims he sexually assaulted a woman at a Ibiza beach club owned by Wayne Lineker.
The former celebrity Big Brother contestant, 42, is in the midst of a legal battle in a Spanish court, which earlier this week heard testimony from a British holidaymaker who said she was left in ‘shock and tears’ when he allegedly assaulted her in 2022.
Best, the son of legendary Northern Irish footballer George Best, owes the taxman the staggering sum of money following several appearances on major TV shows, including SAS: Who Dares Wins, Celebrity Love Island and Celebs Go Dating.
He previously said that he hated starring in reality TV shows, saying in 2017: ‘I wouldn’t be doing f***ing reality TV if I didn’t need to… I do these things as I need to earn a living.’
His TV company, Trouble to Triumph Limited, has fallen on tough times and he was forced to put it into liquidation in 2022.
Documents published to Companies House revealed that before it was wound up, it owed £85,625 in unpaid corporation tax and VAT.
Calum Best (pictured), the son of legendary Northern Irish footballer George Best, owes the taxman the staggering sum of money following several appearances on major TV shows
His TV company, Trouble to Triumph Limited, has fallen on tough times and he was forced to put it into liquidation in 2022
Trouble to Triumph also owes an additional £2,500 to other creditors, while Best owes the company itself £48,971 by way of a director’s loan.
The liquidators, Begbies Traynor, wrote in a report in November 2023: ‘It is currently uncertain whether sufficient funds will be available to enable a dividend to be paid to HM Revenue & Customs.’
The liquidation firm itself was owed £21,577.50 as of November 2023 for the work of winding the company down, which it had not been paid for as of the publication of the report.
This isn’t the first time Best has faced financial woes, having been forced to surrender a £75,000 18 carat golf Jean Lassel watch after he declared bankruptcy in 2013 over unpaid tax bills.
It is not currently known how much of the back-taxes and liquidators’ fees have been paid for by the chairman of Dorking Wanderers FC’s women’s team, who is also facing a major sex assault trial in Spain.
Earlier this week, a British holidaymaker, who has not been named, told Audiencia Nacional court in the Majorcan capital Palma that Best put her right hand down his shorts and onto his penis after kissing her and telling her: ‘I’ve got something for you, close your eyes.’
Best, who won Celebrity Love Island in 2006 with Bianca Gascoigne and has starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother, was held in April 2022 over an incident at the O Beach Club (pictured) which was never made public at the time
Calum, who won Celebrity Love Island in 2006 with Bianca Gascoigne and has starred in two series of Celebrity Big Brother. Pictured: Calum arriving at the Odeon in Leicester Square in 2003
Calum is seen as a young boy being carried by his father George Best in 1984, who scored 181 goals in 474 appearances for Manchester United and was capped 37 times by Northern Ireland
The woman claimed there was ‘some kind of forcing’ before she managed to withdraw her hand, tell a friend and raise the alarm with security staff at the O Beach club in Ibiza, but said her complaint was dismissed.
‘The security man asked if he was one of Wayne Lineker’s friends and when I said “yes” he laughed, said this happens all the time and told me he wasn’t going to call police,’ the woman told the judges today.
Asked by state prosecutor Miguel Tous if she had wanted that, she replied: ‘No. And it wasn’t what I expected when he asked me to close my eyes and told me he had something for me.’
She added: ‘I went back to my friend and she asked me what was wrong because she could tell something was up.
‘I remember crying and having a panic attack and going to speak to the security guard immediately afterwards.’
Best, taking to the stand in a light-grey suit over a light blue shirt, declined to answer questions from the state prosecutor or lead judge Jaime Tartalo but did agree to be questioned by his defence lawyer Jaime Campaner.
George Best is seen playing for Manchester United against Leicester at Old Trafford in 1972
The 42-year-old is the current chairman of Dorking Wanderers FC women’s team. Pictured: Best pictured in 2016
He said he had consented to having his picture taken with his female accuser a couple of times but it felt ‘awkward’ when he was subsequently ‘followed’ by the woman as he went for a cigarette with an acquaintance and used the excuse of a DJ he recognised that was playing to leave the area quickly.
He denied her claims saying he got angry and had a prior altercation with the woman over photos or videos taken of him without his consent.
Recalling the moment police approached him on San Antonio seafront around half an hour after he left the club and he was taken to a nearby station, he said: ‘They told me why they were there and I contested it many many times.
‘I was in absolute shock.’
Asked by Mr Campaner why he thought his accuser had raised the alarm, self-confessed teetotaler Best, whose famous dad died in 2005 aged 59 as a result of liver failure caused by alcohol addiction: ‘I have thought about this a lot and the only things I can come up with are two.
‘One was that she had already asked me a couple of times for pictures and I wasn’t maybe reciprocating the same energy.
‘But the main thing is that I know people get very drunk at the O Beach club and I don’t think she would have made the allegations she did if she hadn’t been drinking heavily.’
Prosecutors are seeking to put Best behind bars for three years if he is convicted, insisting in a brief closing speech: ‘For the prosecution the way the sexual assault happened has been proven here today in a clear and resounding manner.’
He said evidence an acquaintance of Best gave on his behalf, claiming he had spent all night bar 20 or 30 seconds with the reality TV star and ‘seen nothing,’ had been ‘prepared by the defendant.’
Calum (pictured in 2021) was arrested on October 12 2015 in the UK after a 20-year-old woman claimed he had sexually assaulted her
The reality TV icon and only son of football legend George Best has been summoned to court following an arrest at a famous Ibiza beach club
Best’s defence lawyer said the ten alcoholic drinks plus shots his female accuser had confessed to drinking that day was reason enough to treat her testimony with caution.
He highlighted what he described as ‘contradictions’ in evidence she gave police and what she was telling the court today, saying before the judges retired to consider their verdict: ‘A panic attack and tears suddenly appear in January 2024.’
He also flagged up the fact state prosecutors had stated in their pre-trial indictment Best had told his alleged victim ‘Feel This’ as he drew her hand towards his penis but his accuser had not used that expression in her court evidence.
Offered a final address to the court, Calum said: ‘Thank you for your time and thank you for listening to my testimony.’
He left the court a free man and can leave Majorca whenever he wants while the judges consider their verdict.
They are expected to announce their decision in writing over the next few weeks but no date has yet been announced.
Best is expected to appeal if he is found guilty and any sentencing hearing wouldn’t take place until after the appeal.
As well as the maximum jail sentence possible, Spanish state prosecutors want him served with a restraining order preventing him from going within 100 metres of the woman he is accused of targeting and trying to contact her for five years.
They also want him banned from working with minors for eight years if he is convicted as charged.
Calum, whose dad scored 181 goals in 474 appearances for Manchester United and was capped 37 times by Northern Ireland, was arrested on October 12 2015 in the UK after a 20-year-old woman claimed he had sexually assaulted her.
He was held at the Innside Hotel in Manchester following a night out with friends including Ex on the Beach star Ashley Cain.
Greater Manchester Police confirmed a fortnight later no further action was being taken.
A spokesman for Calum added at the time: ‘The police have now looked into the matter and have taken the decision that there will be no further action regarding these allegations.’