Gary Neville was a one-club man during his stellar football career but since retiring from the sport, he has had a finger in every pie.
The Manchester United star, now 48, is a popular pundit for Sky Sports and has taken on several business ventures, from regenerating his hometown of Manchester to co-owning Salford City FC. His successful multi-million-pound investments have seen him join the millionaire entrepreneurs on BBC's Dragons Den this evening, with his mammoth St Michael's project being dubbed by Manchester's council leader as a 'defining regeneration project' for the city.
In tonight's episode, he will be in familiar company, as a former professional footballer pitches his match-worn memorabilia business. But aside from his lucrative job prospects, what do we know about the star's life off-screen? Here, we take a look at his rarely-seen wife and relationship with his famous brother Phil, along with the time he feared for his life.
Gary Neville and wife Emma Neville attend the UK Premiere of "Beckham" (Hoda Davaine/Dave Benett/WireIma)
Emma has launched her online community, called This Is Me (Instagram/emmanevillethisisme)Gary met wife Emma, from Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 2004, when she worked as a shop assistant in Manchester. Three years later, the pair tied the knot in a lavish ceremony in Malta.
The couple, who share daughters Molly, 14, and Sophie, 13, lived in a mansion in Bolton but four years ago made the move to Manchester city centre. In the early stages of their romance, Emma was studying holistic therapy, and is now a qualified counsellor and accredited 'Menopause Coach'.
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The 41-year-old philanthropist launched her new support network online at the end of last year, where she teaches women about the menopause and gives advice and support to others on how best to navigate it. In a candid post and video, the mum-of-two shared that she had been diagnosed with early menopause soon after her most recent birthday - sending her on a course of education and self-discovery.
She now hopes to share her wisdom with other women after qualifying as a counsellor in 2019. Gary, who has been in support of her latest project, wrote: "So proud of my wife Emma with the launch of her new community for women."
The dad once had a health scare of his own as a teenager, when the United stalwart thought he almost wasn't going to make it after boozy festivities had gone wrong. He had been on a customary Christmas night out with his team-mates, with David Beckham sticking him in a taxi to send him home, only for Neville to redirect the driver to the hospital.
A doctor eventually attended to him and asked if he'd had too much to drink. Neville originally thought that was the case before clocking that he could've in fact been spiked, later leaving the hospital in a wheelchair.
He told the Stick to Football podcast : "I ended up in hospital one Christmas, I thought I was going to die. Someone spiked my drink; I don’t know what with, but it was bad. I was with David Beckham and Ben Thornley put me in a taxi and he sent me home, but I said to the taxi driver to take me to the hospital.
Phil Neville (L) and Gary Neville train with Manchester United on July 24, 2004 (Getty Images)
Gary has seen success with Sky Sports (Ryan Browne/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock)"I got to the hospital, and it was quite busy, and I ended up falling asleep on the deck, and I remember one of the nurses coming over to me asking if it was just drunk, which I said it was, and only then I realised that I could have been spiked.
“I ended up sleeping at the hospital, waking up about two hours later and you didn’t have mobile phones back then and I was 18, so I ended up using the hospital phone to ring up my girlfriend to come and pick me up. I remember she picked up and I was sat in a wheelchair at the front of the hospital, and she came to me pick me up and take me home."
Neville is by no means known for his drinking and was part of the Class of 92 that came into the United squad when a new age of professionalism was beginning - which of course also included his younger brother Phil, 46. The pair were both seen as huge success stories as a product of Sir Alex Ferguson, but it seems they have become estranged since their glory days.
After becoming coach of Beckham's US club Inter Miami, self-confessed anti-social Phil revealed he doesn't have any friends and doesn't keep in touch with anyone from his original squad that he considered as mates, including Beckham, Scholes, Giggs and brother Gary.
"Obviously, Nicky, Scholesy, Gary, Becks and Giggsy are my close friends - they're almost like my brothers - and I don't see them at all now," he explained. "We're on WhatsApp groups and stuff like that, but they're getting on with their lives.
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"But apart from that I've not come to Miami and made friends. That's not the type of person that I am. I've got probably one friend out here that I've met that I played golf with yesterday."
He also told Gabby Logan on her The Mid-Point podcast that his relationship with Gary goes as far as pleasantries.He said the pair text each other once a month with short messages saying 'how are you? with a one-word reply, 'fine'.
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