“That’s why I was shocked when all this came out” – When Cristiano Ronaldo’s ex-girlfriend Nereida Gallardo commented on r*pe allegations

Cristiano Ronaldo was accused of rape by American national Kathryn Mayorga, with the incident said to have taken place in 2009. However, the Portuguese star's ex-girlfriend, Nereida Gallardo, was quick to jump into his defense when Mayorga came out with her revelation in 2018.

The Spanish model claimed that the footballer treated her well and was always a gentleman when he was with her. She added that it was shocking to see the allegations.

She was quoted by the Daily Mirror as saying in 2018:

"That's why I was shocked when all this came out. Cristiano treated me well while I was with him. He was never ever aggressive towards me – not even near. I can't see him forcing or holding down someone. He is not an aggressive guy in bed. I've had partners who have been verbally aggressive or who liked to grab me hard and he isn't like that."

Cristiano Ronaldo and Nereida had split up in 2008 - 10 months before the reported nightclub incident in Las Vegas with Kathryn Mayorga.

Lawsuit against Cristiano Ronaldo dismissed by US Judge

In 2018, Kathryn Mayorga's lawyer, Leslie Stovall, pushed to reopen the case against Cristiano Ronaldo. He had found evidence of wrongdoing from the footballer but could not proceed with the case, stating the documents were 'stolen' by Football Leaks when they were classified as confidential and privileged.

Ruling against the lawsuit, US District Judge Jennifer Dorsey wrote:

"Stovall's repeated use of stolen, privileged documents to prosecute this case has every indication of bad-faith conduct. And because the record shows that he and Mayorga have extensively reviewed these documents and used them to fashion the very basis of Mayorga's claims, simply disqualifying Stovall will not purge the prejudice from their misuse. Stovall deliberately sought out his adversary's hacked, internal, privileged communications. Once he received them, he didn't seek ethical guidance on how to handle these clearly sensitive documents."

The judge added:

"Instead, he gave them to his client, ensuring that they would contaminate her memory and perception of events, and he built her complaint on their contents, as evidenced by plaintiff's sworn verification. With that adulterated die cast, he then sat on the documents for fourteen months, nine of which he was actively litigating this case."

Earlier this year, Cristiano Ronaldo was reimbursed over $300,000 for the legal fees he spent while defending himself in the lawsuit.