In a league of her own: Fiona Barratt-Campbell on building her own empire and never becoming a stereotypical WAG

By Lydia Slater

PUBLISHED: 18:01 EST, 21 June 2014 | UPDATED: 19:10 EST, 21 June 2014

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She may be married to a football legend, but interior designer Fiona Barratt-Campbell is far from a stereotypical wag. Here she tells Lydia Slater how the strong work ethic she inherited from her grandfather the founder of Barratt homes has helped her build her own empire

Fiona at home in Chelsea

A couple of years ago, the interior designer Fiona Barratt-Campbell was on safari in South Africa when she spotted something incredible. Not the nearby herd of grazing rhino but a patch of dried mud. Heedless of the potential danger, she leapt from the jeep to take a photograph. That mud inspired the layered bronze top of her drawing-room coffee table, around which she and I are chatting today. Inspiration comes from everywhere, she says. It might be a piece of rubbish in the street or paint peeling off a wall. I wont sleep during a design process until its done to my satisfaction. So I have many sleepless nights. Its difficult to switch off.

Fiona is an intriguing character. She comes from a wealthy family and is married to Sol Campbell, the former Tottenham, Arsenal and England defender. A life of leisure is surely hers for the asking. Yet she works obsessively, hates taking holidays and shies away from the red-carpet lifestyle. Call her a wag at your peril in fact, sitting opposite me, barefoot in her serviceable grey tracksuit, she looks anything but. The wag scene doesnt sit well with me, she confesses. I find it uncomfortable, actually. When Sol and I go to events together, I feel invisible. Sol makes a point of introducing me, and people will say, Hi, but then theyre straight back to Sol. She shrugs. At least if somebody does speak to me, I have something to talk about! she says with a wry chuckle.

Fiona with Sol at their 2010 wedding

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In a league of her own: Fiona Barratt-Campbell on building her own empire and never becoming a stereotypical WAG