/ 20 June 1997

Naomi’s collapse

Sarah Boseley

SUPERMODEL Naomi Campbell was recovering in the Canary Islands this week after reports of a suspected drug overdose, said to have been taken following a row with her lover, the flamenco dancer Joaquin Cortes.

The reports were vigorously denied by a spokesman for Campbell. He claimed she had suffered an allergic reaction to antibiotics.

The model’s relationship with Cortes had been breaking up, according to reports. Campbell had flown to the Canaries with Cortes, but the couple were staying in separate rooms. In the early hours of Monday a doctor was called to Campbell’s room. Shortly afterwards she was admitted to intensive care in the Nuestra Senora del Pino hospital, where she was said to be suffering from an overdose of barbiturates. She was discharged late on Tuesday night. Some guests were reported this week to have complained of hearing a heated argument from Campbell’s room.

Of all the supermodels, Campbell may have been thought the most resilient. She has been the bad girl – notoriously late for fashion shoots, outrageously sexual in her poses, unafraid to change her big-name lovers the way others change their cars.

She has been linked with Robert de Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Mike Tyson, Eddie Murphy, Eric Clapton, U2’s Adam Clayton and Italian boutique owner Luca Orlandi.