24/7: RIO: MY GOAL IS SARAH

Sunday Mirror, Dec 29, 2002 by Polly Graham

GORGEOUS Pop Idol star Sarah Whatmore has attracted the attention of my favourite footballer Rio Ferdinand.

The pair first met three months ago when the England defender spotted Sarah having a

drink in Manchester's trendy Circle Bar with her sister Emily.

Unable to resist the girl who provoked Pop

Idol's Mr Nasty Simon Cowell to propose (a harder feat than you might think) he invited her and Emily over to his table.

Since then whenever Sarah, 21, has been in Manchester - which is often

because her parents live in nearby Salford - she has hooked up with Rio.

The pair also frequent the other favourite haunt of the Manchester Utd crew, the Sugar Lounge, and have even met up in the Big Smoke.

But, my spies inform me, they always make sure they're in a large group so as not to attract attention.

Now I would be

all encouraging of this fledgling liaison if it wasn't for the fact that dashing Rio already has a girlfriend called Rebecca Ellison.

Raven-haired Rebecca isn't some fly-by-night woman - she's been dating him for two years after they met at the Epping Forest Country Club in Epping, Essex, when he played for West Ham. In fact she lives with Rio, 23, in a pounds 1million converted barn near Wetherby, West Yorks.

And the couple have recently been house-hunting in posh Hale, Cheshire, after Rio's transfer from Leeds to Manchester.

"Rio was very taken with Sarah when he first set eyes on her

and so made sure he made her acquaintance," says my spy. "He thinks she's stunning and likes other members of the team to see them together.

"Sarah is, of course, very flattered by Rio's attention but is aware that he does have a girlfriend so has been trying to keep things at arm's length. But who knows how much longer she will be able to resist."

Rio does have a reputation for having a wandering eye. In November he was linked with Brazilian model Tatiane Rosalino, who he met during an Arena magazine shoot.

And, as I revealed just before the World Cup this summer, he unsuccessfully attempted to woo singing

beauty Roberta Whitney. He phoned her several times to ask her out on a date, but she lost

interest when she was told that he already had a girlfriend.

Sarah - who had a hit with her debut When I Lost You - has a far less complicated love life having split with her long-term love last year. Since then she has been briefly linked with Tracy Shaw's ex, Matt Bailey.