George Best’s ex-wife claims footage has ‘captured his ghost’

George Best’s ex-wife has claimed this footage has ‘captured his ghost’ – which is haunting her Surrey home – after a copy of his biography suddenly moved on camera.

Alex Best, 49, who was married to the former Manchester United footballer for nine years before they divorced in 2004, says she has experienced strange goings-on since her ex-husband’s death 16 years ago.

She says the strange occurrences at her Surrey home include lights flickering on and off, the TV suddenly turning on and items disappearing only to reappear months later.

In a new discovery+ TV documentary series, Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted, Alex enlists the help of paranormal professionals to discover whether ‘spirits have come to visit her 200-year-old home’.

Alex was largely convinced ‘George’s spirit’ had visited her after the team showed her surveillance footage of her bookcase, in which the footballer’s authorised biography is seen shooting forward around six inches from the back of a shelf, apparently all by itself.

‘I’m convinced spirits have come to visit my 200-year-old house,’ Alex says.

 ‘And now I think George could have been one of them.’

Alex Best, 49, who was married to the former Manchester United footballer (pictured together) for nine years before they divorced in 2004, says she has experienced strange goings-on since her ex-husband’s death 16 years ago

Wanting to get to the bottom of what’s causing these terrifying hauntings, Alex calls in the Help! My House Is Haunted team – dark arts specialist Ian Lawman, paranormal researcher and historian Jayne Harris, and investigator Barri Ghai – to see what they can uncover (pictured together)

She recalls how her first bizarre encounter came following the footballer’s burial on 3rd December  2005, after his death aged just 59. He had struggled with alcoholism for years.

On the day of George’s funeral, Alex was staying at a hotel in Belfast and just as she was leaving, the shower suddenly turned on, on its own.

After being shown the footage of the moving book, a shocked Alex says: ‘I don’t thank that’s a coincidence. I’ve got so many books on that bookshelf. I’ve got books on films, antiques, all different autobiographies and yet the book that shot out was George’s.

‘That moment made me really think he could have been one of the spirits… Something like that would be typical George.’

When asked if she was surprised that her ex-husband’s ‘spirit’ apparently made his introduction this way, she says she isn’t.

Branding him a ‘cheeky monkey’, she explains that she’d assumed the spirit was a child up until this point because of the ‘mischievous’ behaviour she says she had witnessed.

George Best’s ex-wife has claimed this footage has ‘captured his ghost’ – which is haunting her home – after his biography suddenly moved on camera.

Alex who was married to the former Manchester United footballer for nine years before they divorced in 2004, says she has experienced strange goings-on since her ex-husband’s death 16 years ago.

She says the strange occurrences at her Surrey home include lights flickering on and off, the TV suddenly turning on and items disappearing only to reappear months later.

In a new discovery+ TV documentary series, Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted, Alex (pictured with George in 2003) enlists the help of paranormal professionals to discover whether ‘spirits have come to visit her 200-year-old home’

Dating back to the Doomsday book, the village of Kingswood, Surrey is an area well known for pagan rituals. 

As Alex explains, paranormal activity has beset her house for some time. ‘Loads of people have experienced paranormal activity in the house,’ she says. ‘I’ve got this really big side cabinet, it’s so heavy. I woke up one morning and it was literally just in the middle of the room.’ 

For Alex, the spirit lurking in her home has a distinct personality. ‘I think whoever is around is quite cheeky; it’s almost like somebody is playing around with me.’ 

However, despite teasing from her friends, Alex isn’t sure it’s her late husbamd.

‘I mean obviously everyone jokes and says it’s George, but I know for sure that it’s not,’ she asserts. 

‘This is a very old house. It was built in 1820, and the amount of people that have lived here in the past, it could be anything.’

In a new discovery+ TV documentary series, Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted, Alex enlists the help of paranormal professionals to discover whether ‘spirits have come to visit her 200-year-old home’

Alex was largely convinced George’s spirit had visited her after the team showed her surveillance footage of her bookcase, in which the footballer’s authorised biography is seen shooting forward around six inches from the back of a shelf, apparently all by itself.

The team inform Alex that it’s highly unusual to capture ‘supernatural movements’ on camera – unless the spirit is trying to attract attention.

Model turned property developer Alex says on the show that she always loved her ex-husband, despite the difficult times, and still does.

 Alex (pictured with George) was largely convinced ‘George’s spirit’ had visited her after the team showed her surveillance footage of her bookcase, in which the footballer’s authorised biography is seen shooting forward around six inches from the back of a shelf, apparently all by itself

She adds that George and herself had a ‘strong faith’, with the footballer keeping a bible by the side of his bed.

Alex also admits that she hopes George isn’t one of the spirits she claims are visiting her home, as wants to think he has moved on.

She explains that she has had her electrics checked since the strange goings-on, but that the electrician said there was no explanation for it.

Appearing on the show, local historian Lorraine Spindler explains that Alex’s cottage was one part of a set of buildings known as Eyhurst Farm.

And a look back through the census discovered an uncanny coincidence – with a George Best having lived in the area in 1902.

He lived with the family of a William Best registered on the census in 1891.

Elsewhere in the programme, the paranormal experts claim to have discovered supernatural voices – two adult males ones.

From one recording, they say they hear the names ‘Alex Best’ and ‘George’ and the words ‘peace’ and ‘I’m sorry’.

Alex claims the voice apparently identified as George ‘sounded rather like him’.

Dark arts specialist Ian Lawman, paranormal researcher also detects the presence of something eerie in the home.

‘As soon as you walk in here you can feel the heaviness in here,’ he whispers.

‘For quite a cute cottage there’s quite a lot of activity in here.’ 

Alex (pictured on the show) says the strange occurrences at her Surrey home include lights flickering on and off, the TV suddenly turning on and items disappearing only to reappear months later

As his search continues, Ian suddenly becomes breathless. ‘My breath has been pulled away from me,’ he says. ‘I feel that the spirit in this property would have smoked so much, I do feel like they would have had a breathing problem or certainly some health conditions, because my health is deteriorating as I’m in here.’ 

Before long, Ian’s assessment is clear. ‘We are dealing with some form of poltergeist but we’re also dealing with a spirit that likes to move things around to get peoples’ attention,’ he says. ‘For such a small property there’s so much energy in here, it’s buzzing!’

Meanwhile, Jayne meets with local historian Lorraine Spindler to better understand the property’s past, where she makes an astonishing discovery that makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

‘There was a George Best living here,’ Lorraine reveals to a shocked Jayne. 

‘I’ve got George Best living in this area in 1902 in the house called Elmore. When we look at the census in 1891, here’s Eyhurst Farm, here’s the cottages, and it’s the family of one William Best.’ 

With the possibility that William Best could have lived in Alex’s house, the census documents reveal some tragic but intriguing news. ‘Sadly, they lost one child,’ Lorraine reveals. 

After finishing their initial investigation, the team gets together at the house with Alex and her friend Carol to disclose their findings. ‘

‘Oh my God,’ Alex gasps, putting her hands to her mouth. ‘I feel really wobbly, really shaky.’ 

Next, using a rem-pod, the team attempts to capture audio evidence of any spirits lurking in the house. 

Shockingly, they capture the faint voice of a little girl, saying ‘Lily’s here.’ 

With the group in collective goosebumps, they continue trying to reach out to the spirits roaming Alex’s house. Suddenly, a male voice appears, much to Alex and Carol’s horror. 

Despite her shock, Alex herself bravely asks the spirit to reveal its name, to which it whispers… ‘George.’ Could this be Alex’s late ex-husband, or the previous George Best who lived in the area over 100 years ago? 

For investigator Barri Ghai, there’s much more investigating still to be done to be able to give Alex an answer. ‘We’re going to find out more about Lily, find out, maybe, who the male is.’

While Alex and Carol leave for the night, Barri rigs the house with cameras to spearhead the investigation, hoping to capture some of the activity on film. 

While Jayne pours over the recordings they captured earlier, Ian and Barri head into the house to try and communicate with the spirits. Reaching out, Barri once again gets a glimpse of the name of the male spirit.

‘I think I heard George,’ he gasps. A short time later, Barri begins to feel the effects of the spirits. 

‘I’m feeling weird, tingly’ he tells Ian. Listening back, the team then hear the mysterious voice utter the name of the house’s primary occupier, ‘Alex Best.’ Shocked, Barri asks the questions that’s on everyone’s lips: ‘Could that be George Best?’

Feeling static in the air, Barri continues to feel the effects of the spirits in the property.

 ‘It’s like cobwebs are on me,’ he says. ‘It feels like cotton wool. I’m being tickled!’ With the spirits focusing their attention on Barri, he heads back to the stairs. 

Alex got the help of paranormal investigators (pictured) to help her identify issues in her home

Captured by the overhead camera, looking down on Alex’s bookshelf, Barri’s every move is filmed as he attempts to communicate with the property’s poltergeist. 

Suddenly, Barri notices something astonishing. 

‘Guys, George Best’s book is sticking right out, teetering over the edge,’ he gasps. 

 ‘That wasn’t like that before. That book has somehow been pulled from the shelf around six inches.’ 

With none of the team noticing the book move in real time, they watch the footage back and are shaken by what they find – the book moving itself out from the bookshelf on its own! ‘Wow, look at that!’ Barri cries. 

‘This is clearly a sign, it’s an indication that he’s present.’

After an intense evening of investigating, the team reconvene with Alex in the morning, where they share their findings. 

‘Ian and I were attempting to communicate with both Lily and George,’ Barri explains, before playing the audio they captured.

‘I’m quite shocked, I’m quite emotional,’ Alex says tearfully. 

And then, Barri shows Alex the clip of the book – the authorised biography of her late ex-husband George Best – moving on her bookshelf. 

‘I had eight infrared cameras fixed across your property. One of those captures was on the hallway landing looking down. We can see your books; we caught something truly amazing,’ Barri explains.

‘Ian is in the Nerve Centre monitoring me, and he’s telling me he can see something on the stairs. All of a sudden, I notice that there’s a book sticking out and I need you to see this clip.’ 

Shocked, Alex gasps and moves back in her chair, as she sees the footage of the book slowly moving out of place on her bookshelf. 

‘You are joking, no!’ she says. ‘That’s George’s book,’ Ian confirms. For Barri, there can be no doubt: Alex has been visited by her former husband’s ghost. 

‘That to me was complete validation,’ he concludes. As Jayne adds, capturing such clear footage of paranormal activity is extremely rare.

 ‘I never thought we’d capture anything like that on camera, because it’s so rare you just don’t.’ 

Asked if she’s surprised by George making an entrance, Alex cannot help but be honest. ‘No, not at all,’ she giggles. ‘Cheeky monkey!’

Bringing proceedings to a conclusion, the team agree to assist Alex with a cleanse of the house. ‘We’ll leave that doorway open, and if anything wants to go through it’s only right to let them,’ Ian says. ‘It doesn’t mean they won’t visit; it just means that they accept they’ve passed on.’

Best’s alcoholism had left his liver permanently damaged, and he had undergone a liver transplant at London’s Cromwell Hospital in 2002.

He had often appeared gaunt in front of the Sky television cameras, where he worked as a pundit and surgeons decided a transplant was the only suitable course of action.

Three years later, he died at the same hospital, having suffered multiple organ failure.

Celebrity Help! My House Is Haunted is available to stream from Friday January 21 exclusively on discovery+