Glam lasses, millions of chippies and Northern charm – why Manchester ISN’T a ‘s******e’ as Angel Di Maria’s wife claims
NOT everyone is mad fer it.
Angel Di Maria’s wife Jorgelina Cardoso angered Manchester United fans yesterday by branding the city a “s******e” and dubbing the women “weird”.
The Argentine winger spent a beleaguered season at Manchester United in 2014, before quickly transferring to Paris St-Germain.
In a tirade on Spanish TV, Jorgelina said: “I didn’t like anything about it. The women are all skinny and weird.
“You’re walking down the street and you don’t know if they’re going to kill you. The food’s disgusting.”
Here, Celebs Go Dating star Charlotte Dawson and Real Housewives of Cheshire’s Dawn Ward tell us why the Argentine has got Manchester completely wrong:
‘Once lockdown’s over, I’ll get Jorgelina dolled up and show her what she’s missing’
Charlotte Dawson, 27, is a reality star, the daughter of beloved comedian Les Dawson, and a Manchester gal through and through.
She says: “Us northerners are used to a bit of ribbing. Usually we can take it – chuffin’ heck, we dish it out most of the time. But every now and then somebody takes it too far.
Case in point: Angel Di Maria’s missus Jorgelina Cardoso.
The ex-Manchester United winger’s wife has done an interview where she completely laid into my hometown.
We’re dolled up like tarts, our food is disgusting and we are all just itching to murder you or so she’d have you believe.
But nothing could be further from the truth – Manchester is a fabulous city with top notch people.
It’s so fantastic that when my mum was in labour in London, my dad famously paid for a helicopter to fly her to Manchester so I’d be born there.
It’s not surprising that his love for the city has rubbed off on me too.
When I was really little we lived in Blackpool as that’s where all his shows were. But I always found myself wanting to go to Manchester for shopping or nights out.
I almost spat out my toast when I saw Jorgelina had called Manchester girls ‘skinny and weird’… mainly because it’s the first time anyone has accused us Northern lasses of being skinny
Charlotte Dawson
I moved there to be with my boyfriend Matthew in 2018 and we couldn’t be happier here.
But when I opened The Sun today I almost spat out my toast when I saw Jorgelina had called Manchester girls “skinny and weird”. Mainly because it’s the first time anyone has accused us Northern lasses of being skinny.
In her interview on Spanish TV she also says we are all dolled up to the nines. I don’t know who she’s been hanging around with but it’s certainly not me on my way to the shops in the morning.
During the day you’ll find us Manc girls in trackies, hair scraped up in a bun, and bare-faced.
And yes it’s true, we like to give it our all with our lashes and outfits on a night out. We are loud, proud and boisterous ladies and we like our fashion to reflect that.
That’s nothing to be ashamed of – who doesn’t like to get dressed up and enjoy themselves?
I do get that Jorgelina might have felt a little intimidated by our nightlife looks. Perhaps she was feeling insecure while surrounded by Manchester’s glam WAGs.
But that’s no reason to lash out about our appearances – she hasn’t given us a chance.
I always think that if someone has something nasty to say it says more about themselves than it does others. And as a flipping WAG herself she should know that it doesn’t feel good when people slate you.
One thing that totally puzzled me was that she called our food “disgusting”.
Argentina is famous for its steaks and red wine but you need to broaden your horizons every now and then. What goes better with a steak than chips? We’ve got millions of chippies – you can’t move for them.
Personally, I like my chips smothered in gravy. The more, the better.
If gravy isn’t your thing, Manchester still has some of the best restaurants and bars in the country.
We’ve got millions of chippies – you can’t move for them. Personally, I like my chips smothered in gravy. The more, the better
Charlotte Dawson
We’ve got Michelin-starred eateries like Mana and The French and every type of cuisine under the sun right on your doorstep.
Rio Ferdinand’s opened up a gourmet restaurant Rosso in the city which I absolutely love. I can’t imagine he wasn’t welcoming towards the Di Marias.
Around these parts we’re known for our warm welcomes and Northern charm. It makes me sad that Jorgelina and Angel obviously didn’t get to experience this.
It’s even more surprising because when you consider that before coming here, the couple were living in Madrid.
Whenever Matt and I go on holiday to Spain, the locals go bonkers when they hear we’re from the North West of England.
Over there, if you’re from Manchester you are instantly the most popular person in the room. Loads of them wear Manchester United strips on and they love the accent.
This obviously didn’t rub off on the Argentines and they really didn’t have a good time here.
I can’t help take it personally when they say there’s “not one thing” they like about Manchester. It’s what I consider my hometown and I can’t believe someone wouldn’t rate it as much as I do.
Even though the Di Marias obviously can’t stand us, I can’t help wanting to show them the Manchester I know and love.
Come on Jorgelina love. Once this lockdown’s over I’ll buy you a one-way ticket from Paris to Manchester. I’ll get you dolled up then we’ll go down the chippy, get some gravy and we’ll work things out.”
‘Northern birds are the world’s sexiest – we’re certainly not pale and pasty’
Dawn Ward, 46, is a Real Housewives of Cheshire star, mum of four and proud Northerner.
She says: “Northern birds are the sexiest women in the world.
Now I don’t know this woman from Adam, but I’m Manchester born and bred and I couldn’t be more proud.
To say her first thought about moving to the city was “s**t” shows that she is narrow minded and naïve. How can you judge something you don’t even know or have never experienced it?
I don’t think she ever wanted to like Manchester, and you only get out of life what you put in – so she clearly didn’t put much effort in.
The women in Manchester aren’t pale and pasty – we’re pictures of health.
She needs to get a hair salon in her house like me. I’ve got my own spray tan booth so I’m never pale. But even if some of us are pale, who cares – at least we don’t have skin damage.
She needs to get a hair salon in her house like me. I’ve got my own spray tan booth so I’m never pale
Dawn Ward
Women from Manchester are like women in Liverpool, we like to dress up and make the effort.
We’re all about having perfect hair, make up and nails. Most of the women here have regular spray tans and like to look glamorous.
I’ll have been married for 25 years in three weeks – and even on a Sunday I get up and put my make-up on and make an effort.
To see she said she’d walked down the street and people wanted to kill her – I walk down the street in Manchester and the people are really happy and friendly.
I am astonished at how she can think that way.
Maybe she was never actually really in Manchester and she’s just walked down into some fantasy where she has walked the wrong way?
And how can she say we have bad food?
Manchester has some of the best restaurants in the world – we have the best China Town in the country.
You know, how she can say we’ve got bad food is beyond me – we have The Ivy, Rosso – what more can she want?
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She obviously hasn’t been out much in Manchester and if I was offered the chance to show her around if she ever visited again, I would turn it down.
I couldn’t be a**ed – you can’t say people are pasty-faced and miserable without knowing them.
And for someone to come to a city for such a short space of time and to judge the city and people off that – to me, that is naïve and narrow-minded.
She’s in Spain now and it’s always sunny there so the people won’t be pasty.
Maybe that will make her happy.”
MANCHESTER'S GIFTS TO THE WORLD
IT’s not just WAGs and footballers, some of the best inventions have come out of Manchester too.
Here we lay down Manchester’s top ten contributions to our lives today.
The computer
During World War II, Alan Turing laid down the first codes which we use today in computing at Manchester University.
Then in 1948, university boffin Tom Kilburn made the first electronic computer called “The Manchester Baby”.
League football
Competitive footie was first invented in Manchester in 1888.
William McGregor devised a league known as The Combination where the UK’s best teams would compete twice a year.
Votes for women
Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was born in Moss Side, Manchester in 1908.
She is credited with campaigning for women to win the right to vote which was approved in parliament after Pankhurst’s death in 1928.
Vegetarianism
Reverend William Cowherd founded the first British vegetarian movement at the Beefsteak Chapel in Salford in the 1800s.
He warned his followers: “If God had meant us to eat meat then it would have come to us in edible form, as is the ripened fruit”.
Railways
The world’s first intercity railway line ran from Manchester’s Liverpool Street Station in 1830.
The route connected Manchester’s bustling manufacturing industry to the ports of Liverpool.
Vimto
Teetotal John Nichols wanted to invent a non-alcoholic drink to keep northerners off the bevvy.
From his Manchester shop in 1908, he came up with Vimto made from grapes and raspberries.
Submarines
Ex-vicar George Garrett drew up plans for the first submarine in 1878 from his Moss Side home.
His design, the 45-foot-long Resurgam, was built in Merseyside the following year.
Rolls Royce
Henry Royce made the first two-cylinder car at his Manchester Factory in 1904.
Shortly after, he was introduced to Charles Rolls at the Midland Hotel in the city and they started producing the luxury cars together.
The pill
University of Manchester chemist Herchel Smith first cooked up the ingredients for an oral contraceptive.
His discovery in 1961 led to the pill becoming cheaply available and mass produced.
Malt loaf
Danish immigrant John Rahbek Sorensen made the first Soreen malt loaf in the 1920s from his Beswick bakery in East Manchester.
Soreen now makes 300,000 of the fruity loaves a day and sells 108million worldwide every year.