As a boxing legend, he’s used to starting the day with a protein-fuelled breakfast.
But in an Instagram post shared online on Wednesday morning, it wasn’t the fried egg Ricky Hatton was about to eat that caught the attention of his social media followers.
The 39-year-old shared a snap of a woman wearing lingerie, knee-high boots and nothing else, frying an egg sunny-side-up, but in a rather embarrassing turn of events it seems the sports star has NO connection to the beauty and had stolen the snap from the internet.
One s(hell) of a woman! Boxer Ricky Hatton shares a saucy photo of his morning eggs… being cooked by a VERY busty lingere-clad mystery girl
Ricky led his followers to believe that the girl in question was cooking him up a treat in the kitchen, as he accompanied the sultry snap with the caption: ‘Some breakfast I woke up to this morning.’
The photo showed a mystery brunette stood over the hob in a black bra and a mauve thong, showing off her very busty assets and her noticeably pert posterior. Snapped from behind, the woman wore her tresses in light ringlets around her shoulders, shielding her face from view.
However, it seems Ricky hadn’t been lucky enough to take the shot himself, as it has now been revealed the girl in the photo is an Instagram model who has no connection to the former boxer.
Referring to the image, a source told MailOnline: ‘He‘s nicked it off the internet!’
Egging on: Cooking the solitary egg sunny side up, the image appeared to be snapped from a height – suggesting the notoriously pint-sized athlete was standing on a chair
Fans had speculated whether Ricky had been the person to take the photo of the girl in his Instagram post, with many joking that he must have ‘used a ladder’ or a chair to do so. Others quipped that the star ‘wasn’t tall enough’ to have captured the shot.
While some commented on how ‘lucky’ Ricky was, after seeing the snaps, others were quick to question how genuine his post had been.
Meanwhile, Ricky lived up to his reputation as a foodie by feasting on a giant ‘Benidorm breakfast’ over the summer – again sharing the food to his Instagram page.
Eggs-cellent: British boxing icon Ricky Hatton tucked into a mammoth breakfast during his family holiday in Benidorm
Charming: The Manchester-born icon followed up on his post by light-heartedly posting this tweet on Wednesday morning
Vacay: Hatton is soaking up the Spanish sun in Benidorm with his son Campbell (left) and agent Jimmy Bright (centre)
The British boxing legend, who is now a boxing promoter having hung up his gloves in 2012, was enjoying a family holiday with his son in eastern Spain.
And keen to get his day off to a good start, Hatton – who was a two-weight world champion during his career – tucked into a mammoth breakfast.
The morning meal consisted of six slices of toast, sausages, bacon, fried eggs, beans, mushrooms and chips – while he watched his sugar intake by opting for a diet coke.
Hatton, seeing the funny side of his reputation, captioned his post on Twitter: ‘Having a Benidorm breaky. I’ve never walked away from a challenge and this is one. But there is only one Ricky Fatton.’
Champ: Hatton’s only two career losses were against Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao (pictured in 2009)
Retired: The 37-year-old British boxing legend is now a boxing promoter having hung up his gloves in 2012
The Manchester-born boxing icon followed up on his post by light-heartedly tweeting: ‘Gonna wish I had two a***s after this.’
During his boxing heyday, Hatton won world titles at light-welterweight and welterweight and is one of Britain’s best-loved sportsmen.
His memorably emphatic wins over Kostya Tszyu and Jose Luis Castillo earned him a fight against pound-for-pound great Floyd Mayweather in December 2007.
Thousands of British fans travelled to Las Vegas to watch their hero in action and infamously ‘drank the Strip dry’ during their weekend away in Sin City.
His only two career losses – aside from an ill-fated comeback fight in 2012 – were against Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao.
Heyday: During his boxing heyday, the Manchester-born boxing icon won world titles at light-welterweight and welterweight. He is pictured centre with Liam, left, and Noel Gallagher of Oasis in 2008