A DAZN TV presenter was warned about her ‘exuberant’ behaviour by the wife of one of her old colleagues with a clear message: ‘I’m the wife.’
Television host Diletta Leotta has captured headlines for her relationship with former Liverpool star Lorius Karius and her presence presenting DAZN’s Serie A coverage.
Leotta married Karius in 2024 but was recently accused by her ex-colleague Federico Balzaretti’s wife of ‘putting her a** in his face’.
Balzaretti’s wife, ballerina Eleonora Abbagnato, claimed a ‘beautiful woman’ with ‘curves’ had made her ‘jealous’ with the scandalous alleged act – without specifically naming Leotta.
Now she has confirmed on Italian TV that her comments were targeted at Leotta – and that she has previously warned her over her behaviour.
‘Yes, that woman was Diletta Leotta. I love my husband like the first day and I’m jealous,’ Abbagnato told Storie di donne al bivio via Chi magazine.
DAZN TV host Diletta Leotta was warned by her former male colleague’s wife over her ‘exuberant’ behaviour around him
Leotta and former Juventus and Roma star Federico Balzaretti previously worked together for DAZN’s Serie A coverage
Ballerina and creative director Eleonora Abbagnato implied that the television presenter had prompted a ‘jealous’ rage in her due to ”putting her a** in his face’
‘In Milan, some time ago, I happened to meet Leotta who, working at Dazn with Federico, seemed to have excessive familiarity with him.
‘I immediately took off and introduced myself in a very formal way: “Pleased to meet you, I’m his wife”.
‘Diletta has those curves that I don’t have, but it was the memes that were circulating on the web, depicting her and my husband in love, that drove me crazy.
‘I respect my husband, I trust him, he loves me like when we met, but we are so good together also because I am very careful about anything that could alter our understanding.
‘Between her and Federico there has never been anything other than work, but Diletta is an exuberant woman, sure of her charm and I wanted to make things clear immediately. The wife is me and that’s it.’
Abbagnato married former Juventus and Roma star in Balzaretti, but he started working with Leotta on DAZN in 2019.
When queried on ‘the most absurd fight’ she had ever had, Abbagnato told TV show ‘Truth or Dare’ that she had been overcome with her own jealousy after Balzaretti’s retirement.
‘When Federico worked on TV with a beautiful girl I was very jealous,’ Abbagnato told host Alessia Marcuzzi.
Leotta, 33, married former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius in Sicily last summer
Abbagnato and Balzaretti have been married since 2011 and share four children – two from the ex-defender’s previous marriage
A woman implied to be Leotta was accused by the dancer of ‘throwing her a**’ in his face – now Abbagnato has confirmed she meant her
When prompted on how jealous she had been by her fellow panelists, the former dancer implied that she had made ‘scenes’ and that her alleged rival had prompted ‘imitations’ from her.
‘She put her a** in his face,’ Abbagnato added. ‘Unfortunately, I don’t have her curves.’
Abbagnato refused to explicitly name the woman who had prompted her jealousy, but did tell the studio that ‘you are all in love with her’.
Leotta remains a lynchpin of DAZN’s Serie A coverage, despite her husband Karius – with whom she shares daughter Aria – playing for German side Schalke.
The couple married in June of last year in Sicily, with Leotta frequently sharing snapshots of their relationship on social media.
Karius admitted at his unveiling that his wife was less than happy with his choice of club after leaving Newcastle in 2024.
‘Of course, she was hoping a little for Italy,’ the shot-stopper said. ‘I explained it to her. She wishes me the best in my career and said she is fully behind it.
‘Milan is not far away. We can find ways to solve it. She has a lot to do too, so we will both be commuting back and forth a bit.
‘If your partner is also in the public eye, it’s clear that something will be reported. But I never actively pushed myself into it. For me, the sport was always the priority.’
