Who is Naomi Campbell's father? Convicted rapist Errol Campbell once claimed to be supermodel's real dad
Naomi Campbell recently made headlines after she revealed that she had become a mother at the age of 50, via surrogacy. On her Instagram, she posted a picture of her newborn's feet, without divulging any details about the baby's father. Coincidentally, mystery has lingered over the years when it comes to her own biological father.
The globally famous model was born to a Jamaican-born mother, Valerie Morris, who was an exotic dancer. However, Campbell has never met her biological father, who, according to her mother left while Morris was four months pregnant with Campbell. Campbell also has Chinese-Jamaican ancestry through her paternal grandmother, who carried the family name ‘Ming'. After her father went unnamed in her birth certificate, Campbell got her surname from her mother's second marriage.
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Over the years, she has regarded France-based Tunisian fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa, whom she met at 16, as her "papa". She has also adopted a number of father figures along the way, including record producers Quincy Jones and Chris Blackwell.
A convicted rapist claimed to be her biological father
In 2013, a convicted rapist named Errol Campbell, spoke up claiming to be Naomi's real biological father and pleaded for an emotional reunion with the supermodel. At the time of the interview, Errol was 56 years old and was living in a one-bedroom council flat in Mitcham, Surrey.
As his health was deteriorating at the time, he made a desperate plea to meet his daughter. "I'll do DNA tests, anything to be with Naomi. All I want is to be part of her life and for Naomi to acknowledge me before I go to my grave," he said at the time, Mirror reported. I know our lives are worlds apart but I want nothing from Naomi apart from her love and respect. Is that too much to ask? I believe I'm her dad and I think a DNA test will confirm it. If Naomi and her mother know for sure that I'm not the father what would they have to fear by agreeing to a DNA test?"
Errol, who was schizophrenic and worked as an electrician, was found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl and was consequently jailed for eight years in 1990. He ended up serving just over five years. He said that Morris was lying when she said that he left her when she was pregnant with Naomi. In fact, he claimed that he actually helped raise Naomi for 10 years while they all lived at his mother's house in Brixton, south London, before they broke up. And even after splitting from Naomi's mum, Errol claimed he played an active role in her life as he took her to and from school.
"I don't know why Valerie says I walked out on her before the birth," he said. "When she registered Naomi's birth I never thought to question that I wouldn't be on the certificate as the father. To this day I still don't know why I wasn't listed as her father. When Valerie and I broke up I was still a big part of her life doing school runs and looking after her when Valerie was working."
After his interview, a spokeswoman for Morris said: "She has never admitted who Naomi's father is. She was with the father for a maximum two years, not ten like Mr Campbell states. Two months after the birth she raised her daughter on her own and acted as both mother and father. She says his claims to be Naomi's dad are completely untrue." A spokesman for Naomi said: "She's aware of the story but declines to comment."