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How to ruin a girl's night out
By Richard Simpson, Evening Standard Last updated at 00:00am on 12.01.04
New love: Steven Johnson with new girlfriend
It's the ultimate social humiliation - your ex turning up at the same party with a new partner. Charlotte Church had to cope with the presence of her former boyfriend Steven Johnson and his new girlfriend, Tamzin Proctor, who to make matters worse is a model and ex-girlfriend of England star Sol Campbell.
To make the very public embarrassment even more painful, Johnson, 19, and Proctor, 24, cavorted openly with each other at Justin Timberlake's party and clearly had no concern that Church was also there.
Church, 17, tried to put on a brave face. The couple split six weeks ago after she found out he had been seen kissing a girl in a nightclub, putting an end to a stormy relationship. But, on the showbiz party circuit, it seems the Voice of an Angel singer cannot get away from him.
Church was invited to Justin Timberlake's post-concert party at the Rex Club and Cinema in Soho. She took along a group of female friends and arrived in a figure-hugging black dress.
What she did not realise was that Johnson was also a guest and he was parading his new girlfriend. She told friends: "I can't believe he's here - and with her. It's really low. Of all the parties in the world, they've turned up here."
A friend comforted her and said that while Johnson was out with a model, she still looked beautiful. But Church complained: "I don't feel it any more. I feel totally ugly. I feel so ashamed he showed up with her."
But then as Church tried to walk past Johnson and his new lover, she slipped on a stray vol-au-vent and skidded across the floor. Proctor burst into fits of laughter and mimicked Church's stumble.
Church recovered and started dancing, a cigarette in one hand. Within minutes, Johnson was also on the dance-floor. For half an hour, Church bumped and ground with her girlfriends while Johnson grooved with a male friend yards away. Frosty glances were exchanged as they tried to out-dance each other.
At one stage Johnson, a DJ, was led away by an aide to the other side of the dancefloor to make sure a photographer did not get a picture of the two together.
The atmosphere improved when Timberlake arrived from his performance at Earls Court with an entourage of 20. When Church went over to say hello, he bent over a table to shake her hand, looking a little uncertain as to who she was. Church returned an hour later and they had a more intimate chat.
At 2.45am, Proctor led Johnson out. Asked what he thought about seeing Charlotte again, Johnson said: "That's just history". Church and her friends left 15 minutes later.
