Sadie Frost's recently estranged boyfriend Jackson Scott insists he was simply "using" the former wife of Jude Law for publicity - but his manipulative efforts backfired after he became a figure of ridicule in the media.
The flamenco guitarist, who was dumped by the fashion designer last week, freely admits his romance with the well-connected Frost was merely a bid to boost his music career, but he resented being treated as a "dumb toy-boy".
A friend explains to British newspaper the Mail On Sunday: "He said it was he who was using Sadie, not the other way around and that he had thought she could help him make it in the music industry. But instead he felt he was made to look foolish and treated like a glorified nanny.
"He said to me: 'I'm constantly being portrayed in the media as some sort of dumb toy boy, someone who accompanies Sadie to parties. As if I have no personality or profession. I'm a musician.' "