The glamorous brunette seen dining with Gary Lineker this week once played a ‘dangerous sexy siren’ in a music video where she shared a steamy kiss with lesbian rock star Sarah Greenwood, MailOnline can reveal.
Visual artist Leila Bartell, born Leila Bdeir, was once hailed as the ‘Slovenian Kate Moss‘ and was a well-known TV presenter in her home country before moving to London to work in finance in the early 2000s.
She and Lineker, 63, were seen enjoying dinner at the Dorian restaurant in Notting Hill, west London, near Ms Bartell’s studio.
But back in 2009, Leila, who is of Arab and Slovenian heritage – credited on IMDB under both versions of her name – played a ‘woman in the lake’, drawing GSX lead singer and guitarist Greenwood towards the icy depths.
The video, and its explosive soundtrack, Bringin’ Me Down, was shot in Iceland and Switzerland and directed by Katrina Del Mar, who described Bartell as a ‘hot… Slovenian superstar’.
Visual artist Leila Bartell (centre), born Leila Bdeir, was once hailed as the ‘Slovenian Kate Moss ‘ and was a well-known TV presenter in her home country before moving to London to work in finance in the early 2000s
Back in 2009, Leila, who is of Arab and Slovenian heritage – credited on IMDB under both versions of her name – played a ‘woman in the lake’, drawing GSX lead singer and guitarist Greenwood (pictured behind Leila) towards the icy depths
The video, and its explosive soundtrack, Bringin’ Me Down, was shot in Iceland and Switzerland and directed by Katrina Del Mar, who described Bartell as a ‘hot… Slovenian superstar’
She and Gary Lineker, 63, were seen enjoying dinner at the Dorian restaurant in Notting Hill, west London, near Ms Bartell’s studio
And in 2017, Leila, now 44, was seen with Amber Heard enjoying a break in Los Angeles together, shortly after the actress’s acrimonious break-up with Johnny Depp.
The pair were pictured glammed up in sexy Halloween costumes with Amber in a racy basque and Leila in striking orange and black face make-up.
Later they were also photographed strolling in the street together in the LA sunshine.
Leila was born in Novo Mesto, Slovenia as Lejla Bdeir in 1980 to a Slovenian father and an Arab mother
She moved to London in the early 2000s to work in finance, but anglicised her name and rebranded herself as an artist
She once presented a hit TV show called Videospotnica on the Balkans’ answer to MTV, and previously revealed that she first got into film directing by accident, having started out in art and law.
In an interview with YG TV in 2018, she said: ‘I’ve always been into a visual arts. As a kid, I acted in the theatre. I suppose it was just a natural path to me properly go into directing but it honestly happened by chance.’
She explained: ‘I heard about modern day slavery through a friend of mine and started researching the subject. I wrote a story, it was a script, that I sent to a producer friend of mine.
‘About five minutes later, she came back to me and said ‘I want to do it’. I said ‘but who is going to direct it? And she said ‘you will’. And I did, and I really enjoyed the whole process of it.’
This August she exhibited her paintings in her home town of Novo Mesto with a collection called Leila’s Dreamscapes.
Gary Lineker appears to have grown close to a woman who looks strikingly similar to his ex-wife
The Match of the Day star was seen enjoying a night out with film director Leila Bartell
The couple left the venue just after 10pm on Wednesday
Lineker and Ms Bartell leaving the popular Dorian restaurant in West London
The former England striker is rarely seen out with women but spent an evening with Ms Bartell, thought to be in her mid-40
Ms Bartell was dressed in a suave black trouser suit on her night out with Lineker
The two embracing each other after their cosy evening out
She only began painting in London, she told Govorise, although, as her art teacher at Grm Elementary School, the painter Branko Šuster, said at the opening of the exhibition, she showed great talent at that time. ‘She was very talented, but she wasn’t interested in it at the time,’ he said, glad that her talent came to light later.
In another interview with the same magazine, she was asked if she was a fashionista, to which she replied: ‘I don’t strictly follow fashion guidelines and I’m not exactly a victim of the fashion industry, but that doesn’t mean I don’t flip through Vogue and other fashion magazines.
‘And from time to time I also pick up ‘fashionable’ friends, what’s new on the fashion scene. I like current trends, so I guess I keep up with fashion.
‘I’m really wearing the latest fashion trends at the moment because they are very much in line with my dressing style. (laughs) The bigger problem is when I don’t like the fashion guidelines and they’re not even remotely close to me.’
She expressed her admiration for London and its creative look: ‘British fashion is a mirror of the pulse of this city.
‘Rebellion, the desire for creativity and difference, which is expressed here in absolutely everything – especially in fashion – are exceptional. Since living in London, I look at fashion much more than before as art.’
She also clearly enjoyed living in trendy Notting Hill: ‘I feel like I’m more interested in fashion than I used to be. Probably because I’m in the centre of the action.
‘In the immediate vicinity of my apartment there are boutiques of Paul Smith, Ralph Lauren, Joseph… In addition, there are many young independent designers in the area.’
Asked her opinion of nudity, she clearly preferred subtlety: ‘Nudity is not my style. I don’t like it, I find it more vulgar than attractive. I adhere to the principle of ‘less is more’.
Lineker has been officially partner-less since splitting for his ex-wife. His outing with Ms Bartell was the first time he was pictured with a female companion since coming to the same restaurant with Jemima Goldsmith
Lineker has previously said he is ‘very single’, adding ‘the sight of a female is very rare’
Lineker’s first marriage was to beautician Michelle Cockayne, the mother of his four sons. The couple split up after 20 years of marriage
He was then married Danielle Bux. The two split amicably because she wanted more children while he didn’t
In 2009, in an interview with Story Magazine, she said she had already been in London for more than three years, after deciding: ‘It was already clear to me during my studies that I had to try my luck abroad.’
She said she had no plans to leave London and furiously name-dropped her famous neighbours including: ‘Orlando Bloom, Duffy, Aaron Eckhart and a member of the Chemical Brothers.’
Although she lives in the capital, Ms Bartell often shares photos of trips abroad to her 27,000 followers on Instagram.
This year alone, she has enjoyed trips to Switzerland, Menorca, Dubai, Barbados – as as well as returning to Los Angeles.
