TV presenter Mica Paris thought she'd struck gold when she met a rich Italian boyfriend. But then it all went disastrously wrong - and the nightmare began

This has been a hard year for Mica Paris: a rollercoaster of romance, love, break-up and despair. But it was the fear of a spurned lover who refused to accept their relationship was over that left her lying awake at night in terror.

She says, 'I've been so scared. The phone was ringing last thing at night and first thing every morning. Just the sound of the phone made me feel ill. It was as if my every move was being watched. I knew that he was heartbroken, and when someone is hurt, you don't know what they are capable of doing.'

It was one year ago that TV presenter and singer Mica, a 39-year-old single mother of two, was swept off her feet by a man who appeared to be the perfect suitor. Looking back, she admits that her life was at an all-time low.

Before the nightmare: Mica with Francesco in happier times

Divorced from her first husband, the father of daughter Monet, 17, she then split up from her partner of seven years, Andreas Neumann, when their daughter, Russia Mae, was a baby.

She says, 'I had waited for so long to be totally secure in my second relationship before we had a baby. But it started to fall apart when I was pregnant.

By the time Russia was eight weeks old, I was on my own and filming What Not To Wear. The show saved me. I was building up the self-esteem of other women, when my own confidence was at an all-time low.

By last August, I was exhausted. I flew to Italy with Russia for a break and the last thing I ever expected was to meet a new man, or to be swept off my feet.'

As she relaxed at motor racing boss Flavio Briatore's beach club, she was introduced to a millionaire Italian by the singer Gloria Gaynor. Francesco Niccolato, 28, seemed the ultimate eligible bachelor.

Mica says, 'We hit it off immediately. Francesco showed Russia and me the sights. He had classic Italian good looks with long hair and dark brown eyes. I had been so lonely, and it was wonderful to have someone paying me this much attention.

Shaken: Mica now wonders whether she'll ever meet anyone else to love

A fortnight after I'd flown home to London, Francesco came to join me and we started going out. He romanced me the way no one had ever done before. I would wake up and there would be a flower on the pillow beside me. He whisked me off to Paris, he turned up with armfuls of flowers and treated me like a queen.

Within weeks, he declared that he was in love. But I was worried that everything was happening too fast.

After four months, we went to Paris and Francesco took me to a diamond shop and proposed. I panicked and thought, "This is too quick." I said, "Babe, this is really nice, but let's not rush. We haven't been together long."

There was something in the intensity of his love that scared me. He bought me a diamond ring and we agreed that marriage was something we could think about in the future.

He had made millions as a marble trader, and owned a ten-bedroom villa. The girls and I spent Christmas at his villa. He wanted us to be together for ever, but insisted that I worked too hard.

He didn't see the need for me to work if we were together. I tried to explain that I loved my work, but I realised that he wanted me just to be with him.

He talked about us moving into his villa in Italy. But I kept looking around the marble palace thinking, "This can't amount to my whole future  -  shopping and keeping a vast house."

I knew we wanted different things. So in February, I told him it was over. I said that I couldn't live my life in the way that he wanted. Deep down I knew I wasn't in love. Francesco begged me to reconsider. I cried to myself when he was gone, but I knew that I'd done the right thing. I thought that we could move on.

But that's when the phone started ringing up to 20 times a day. If I answered, he would beg me to come back to him, and I'd repeat my reasons again and again.

He bombarded me with emails saying that I was placing my career before family. I took part in a fashion shoot for a magazine and Francesco burst in with a bunch of roses.

Bombarded with calls and emails

I begged him to leave me alone. He just didn't stop. It was like being stalked and I was afraid. The thought of what he might do next kept me awake at night.

Then one day, an enormous bunch of flowers arrived. I knew immediately they were from Francesco. But the next morning I received a receipt for them. Francesco had ordered them and paid for them with my credit card.

My card details had been stored in his computer when we had once ordered something together online. He had spent £30 sending me the flowers using my own money. I rang the bank to stop all my cards, and called the police.

Next, I rang Francesco and I went mad. I yelled down the phone, and warned him that the next time he tried anything, I would report him to the police. That night, there was no phone call. I never heard anything more again.

The whole experience has shaken me to the core. I don't know if I'll ever meet anyone else, but I'm an optimist and I hope I will. Perhaps out there will be someone who can love me and understand that I've worked from the age of 17 and I can't give up the career I love.'

It's that career that has currently taken off in an entirely new direction, as Mica appears in the reality show CelebAir. She has been training to be an air hostess alongside other names including Tamara Beckwith. Mica says, 'I'm exhausted. I leave for Luton airport at 6.30am every day and I don't get home until after seven.

The other day, I had a practical exam. I was pushing my trolley and everything fell out, because I didn't shut the door on it properly.

But it has been the perfect antidote to the past few months. My fears are behind me, and I've been working hard and laughing loads.'

CelebAir starts on ITV2 on 2 September at 9pm.