Alleged Love Island newcomer attempted to drive through police checkpoint in her Audi while heavily intoxicated – with her footballer father by her side in court

Reality TV star and influencer Gabriella Bardsley today admitted drink-driving after she was caught nearly three-and-a-half times over the limit.

The 23-year-old daughter of former Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley – who today supported her in court – and Real Housewives of Cheshire star Tanya Bardsley had been tipped to be part of this year’s Love Island line-up.

Gabriella – currently starring alongside the rest of her family in ITVBe reality series The Bardsley Bunch – has previously turned down invitations to go on the dating show, according to her mother.

But today a court heard how she was ‘slurring her words’ and ‘struggling’ to stand after being stopped by police in her Audi A3 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, on May 11.

She approached the scene of a road traffic collision and ‘attempted to drive through the police blockade’, Crewe Magistrates’ Court heard today.

Charlie Hayward, prosecuting, said when officers approached her she was visibly intoxicated.

She refused a road-side breath test and was taken to a nearby police station and was found to have 122 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath – the legal limit in England and Wales being 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath.

Bardsley, who stood in the dock in a black jacket and white trousers, pleaded guilty when the charge of drink-driving was put to her.

Gabriella Bardsley, 23, was ‘slurring her words’ and ‘struggling’ to stand after being stopped by police in her Audi A3 in Wilmslow, Cheshire, on May 11, a court heard today

Gabriella Bardsley (pictured in white top) is starring alongside parents Tanya and Phil  plus brothers Rocco, 15, Renz, 12, and Ralphi, five, in ITVBe reality series The Bardsley Bunch

Gabriella Bardsley, 23, daughter of former Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley and Real Housewives of Cheshire star Tanya Bardsley,sobbed as she left court today after admitting drink-driving

Her lawyer Gary Hughes told the court that she was of ‘hitherto good character’.

He asked for a pre-sentence report to be prepared by a female probation officer due to ‘matters that are sensitive to the defendant’.

‘These are issues that can be ventilated at sentencing,’ he said.

Mr Hughes added that he hoped the author of the report would have a community order at the ‘forefront of their mind’ when recommending a sentence.

Magistrates adjourned the case and Bardsley will be sentenced on July 14.

But they handed her an interim driving ban and she sobbed as she left court comforted by her father.

Bardsley could face an unlimited fine and/or disqualification from driving following her guilty plea.

The influencer was rumoured to appear on this summer’s Love Island as recently as April.

Reality TV star Gabriella Bardsley approached the scene of a road traffic collision and ‘attempted to drive through the police blockade’, Crewe Magistrates’ Court heard today

Gabriella Bardsley, 23, was rumoured to appear on this summer’s Love Island as recently as April

‘Gabriella’s already said no to Love Island and we do need to get her a boyfriend,’ Tanya, 44, told Closer Magazine. 

Speaking of the family’s new TV series she added: ‘Gabriella just lives in fairy land anyway. 

‘So it’s just another nice thing, you know, a little fairy land.’

Her brush with the law comes after ITV bosses axed Kyle Ashman from this year’s line-up following his arrest over a machete attack in February.

The 23-year-old was later released with no further action, taking to Instagram to insist: ‘I’m not a bad guy.’

Tanya married Phil in 2014 and the couple share four children together – sons Rocco, 15, Renz, 12, and Ralphi, five, plus Gabriella.

The Kardashian-style TV series about the family follows the ups and downs of the couple’s life with their children and Tanya’s parents.

In an interview with OK! Magazine, Tanya described them as ‘more like the Clampetts who won the lottery’ than the Kardashians.

Reality TV star and influencer Gabriella Bardsley was driving an Audi A3 (stock picture) when she failed a drink-drive test

Rocco, 16, received an ADHD diagnosis shortly after Tanya shared her own back in 2020.

She has said they live in a house where ‘everyone is on the spectrum somewhere’.

A production team installed GoPro cameras throughout their home and placed small microphones in plant pots and on picture frames to capture the family’s life.

Last month Tanya – who made her TV debut on The Real Housewives of Cheshire in 2015 – revealed how two masked men attempted to break into her £2million mansion while her family slept.  

Luckily the gang were scared off before they were able to break into the property.