"From that second, she completely changed" - When former Manchester United star recalled how Cristiano Ronaldo saved his "painful" date

Former Manchester United defender Danny Simpson recollected an encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo which helped him on the personal front. The Englishman spoke about how a date's behavior completely flipped after she met the Portuguese back in 2016.

Danny Simpson came through the ranks at Manchester United when the club signed Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon. Although the 37-year-old only made three senior appearances for the Red Devils, he made a name for himself with Leicester City.

The defender made 30 appearances for Foxes in their fairytale 2015-16 season as they won the Premier League under Claudio Ranieri.

Simpson recently made his professional boxing debut in KSI's Misfits. This led to a video of his appearance in 2023 in the Under the Cosh podcast resurfacing. In the podcast, he recalls how his date with the then Miss California took a stunning U-turn after running into Cristiano.

"Meets Miss California right, start having dinner and I swear to god it was going w**k. She must've been thinking: 'Who's this lad, I can't understand what he's saying he's from Salford'," Simpson said on the podcast.

"It was painful right, but anyway it weren't going great and I got a little tap on my shoulder," he added. "I've looked up and it's only [Cristiano] Ronaldo."

Simpson's fortunes changed right after his chance encounter with his former Manchester United teammate. He recalled how his date's behavior completely changed.

"I've sat back down and she's gone, 'How do you know Ronaldo?' I've played it down and said, 'I used to play with him' like it was nothing. From that second, she completely changed. Honestly, it was literally a completely different person all because Ronaldo said hello to me so cheers, Ronny," Simpson fondly recalled.

Watch the full podcast here:

Simpson's encounter with Cristiano Ronaldo was incidental, with the Portuguese star on an extended break in the US fresh after winning the European Championships with Portugal.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo join former Manchester United teammate Simpson in the boxing ring?

The former Manchester United defender recently made his debut in boxing on KSI's Misfits event, a platform that puts professionals from non-boxing backgrounds in the ring.

Simpson took on YouTuber Danny Aarons in a four-round bout that ended in a tie on Saturday, August 31. The owner of Misfits, KSI, told talkSPORT what he felt about Simpson's former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo participating in the event.

"You never know," KSI was coy when asked about Cristiano following in Simpson's footsteps. "Him [Cristiano] versus [Zlatan] Ibrahimovic, that could be something."

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner stepping into the boxing ring with Ibrahimovic is sure to draw the crowds. However, Ronaldo in a recent press conference said that he doesn't see himself retiring from football anytime soon.