Post: #1

RICHARD Branson used the kind of cut-throat determination that has made him one of Britain's richest men to steal the wife of one of his best friends.

In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, that friend, musician Ronnie Leahy, has revealed how the Virgin tycoon broke a gentleman's agreement in his relentless pursuit of Joan, now Branson's wife.

The keyboard player, currently on a US tour with rock group Nazareth, has spoken out for the first time about the life-long scars of Branson's betrayal.

Speaking from Tennessee, Ronnie, 50, who has never remarried, said: "Even now it hurts to talk about what happened.

"It's part of my life I've buried. It was a deeply personal thing, obviously upsetting."

Ronnie Leahy and Joan Templeman, a topless model, were childhood sweethearts in Glasgow.

They met in 1966 and Joan watched proudly as Ronnie's first band, Stone The Crows, started to hit the big time.

They married and moved to London where for the next 12 years Ronnie believed they had the perfect marriage "until Branson appeared on the scene".

In the early Seventies Ronnie was at the height of his career. "He could have had any woman he wanted," said one of his close pals.

"There were groupies aplenty who would have thought they'd died and gone to Heaven if he'd so much as looked at them.

"But he only ever had eyes for Joan. He thought they'd be together for ever.

"They'd got their future mapped out. They were married 12 or 13 years and having lots of fun. Children were on the horizon but they decided to wait a while.

"Then Branson came along and wrecked everything. He simply couldn't leave Joan alone. Even now, Branson's name is dirt to Ronnie. We've all tried to joke about it but he doesn't find it funny."

FOR Branson it was love at first sight when he first stumbled into Joan in the kitchen of his Oxfordshire recording complex in Shipton-on-Cherwell.

While Ronnie worked next door in the studio, Branson was chatting up his wife.

Dazzled by the combination of Joan's blonde curls and unflappable Glaswegian straight-talking, Branson was transfixed.

From that moment, he chased her with all the ruthlessness he would apply to securing a multi-million-pound business deal. Branson admitted: "I was completely smitten and pursued her immediately."

A week after their first meeting, Branson surprised Joan by turning up at her workplace, a shop near London's trendy Portobello Road which sold Victorian posters and antiques.

Anxious to impress, the young Branson swept her off to Duveens, the restaurant he owned nearby. It was the start of a concerted campaign to woo her. Whenever Ronnie was away, Branson was quick to move in with dinner invitations.

He was a regular visitor to the shop, usually walking out with another memento he didn't need.

In fact, everywhere Joan went, Branson would appear, tipped off by mutual friends who worked at his record company.

He even earned the nickname Tag, for his habit of asking if he could tag along with friends who were meeting Joan that evening.

They seemed an unlikely pairing. While Joan was confident and chatty, Richard was socially awkward and tongue-tied.

She was the daughter of a ship's carpenter and grew up sharing a bed with six siblings.

Unlike many young women around Branson, Joan was unimpressed by his public school education and the millions he already had in the bank. And she certainly wasn't interested in his pranks and business ventures.

AT THE time, despite his millionaire status, Branson wasn't considered much of a catch.

His first marriage to American Kristen Tomassi had failed after a year and bachelorhood left him looking unkempt with a notoriously poor dress sense. But he never gave up and eventually his relentless pursuit and flattery won Joan over.

When Ronnie found out about their affair he was devastated.

Still feeling pain and anger towards Branson after all these years, he said: "I discovered Joan was having an affair with Branson and I did what any man would do in that situation.

"I confronted him - there was no violence or anything - we had a meeting and I asked him for the sake of our marriage to leave Joan alone.

"He agreed not to contact her for three months. I went away confident Joan and I could make our marriage work. Two weeks later she left me for Branson."

It was late in 1978 and within two weeks of their "gentleman's agreement" Ronnie heard that Branson had flown to New York for a tryst with Joan. A short phone call delivered the news that was to shatter his hopes of saving his marriage.

Joan called him from the hotel room she was sharing with Branson to say it was all over.

Ronnie pleaded for another chance but Joan told him it was too late - she was hopelessly in love with Branson.

Ronnie said: "It must have been true - she went on to marry him and she's the mother of his children. They're still together, so what more can I say?

"I suppose you could say Joan and I are now friends. We stayed in touch and I last saw her a couple of years ago.

"But it's still hard. I moved back to Glasgow and I still see her family around. We grew up together and our families are friends. At home there are still reminders of her everywhere.

"What do I think of Branson? The least said the better. I vowed years ago I would keep quiet and I still stick by that.

"I think my silence speaks volumes. I wouldn't want to get into a slanging match. It's still deeply personal."

AFTER Joan made her decision, Branson never looked back. The couple returned to England and settled down to life on his houseboat in London's Little Venice.

But while her new lover was madly in love with her, Joan soon discovered he was less keen on the idea of becoming a father.

When she found out she was pregnant, it threatened to tear them apart. Although Branson was already a business success, his career still came first.

When he mustered the courage to confess to Joan that he was "not sure", she fled their house-boat and decided to have the child on her own.

Frantically Branson phoned friends trying to find her and eventually persuaded her to return.

But when he was away in Europe that summer on business, Joan, six months pregnant, was diagnosed with appendicitis.

She was operated on and Branson flew back to help her recover. But she went into labour a few days later and the tiny, premature baby girl died four days later.

Friends say Joan has never recovered from the event but it brought the couple closer together.

Aged 35, Joan was determined to conceive again as quickly as possible and she gave birth to a daughter, Holly, in 1982.

Branson finally proposed to Joan in 1989 after 12 years together. He said: "I didn't realise quite how much getting married meant to both Joan and the children.

Their Christmas marriage on Necker, his Caribbean island, was a romantic spectacle witnessed by showbusiness friends.

While Branson's fortunes have gone from strength to strength, Ronnie Leahy now ekes out a living with Nazareth, the veteran Scottish rock band.

THEY spend months at a time on the road playing tiny venues.

After coming off the stage at a rock festival in Lexington, Tennessee, Ronnie said: "I've just spent 16 hours on the tour bus, I can't even remember where we were last night. I'm exhausted."

Their tour bus is a glorified caravan with a cramped living area and bunk beds. "Tonight Tennessee, tomorrow Chicago," said Ronnie.

As diehard Nazareth fans clustered round to get autographs, one of the entourage said: "Ronnie could have his pick.

"But even after all these years, he's still grieving for Joan and still furious with Branson."

Branson ended up winning her over by flying her on a helicopter for a weekend getaway at the private island he was about to purchase.
Pretty Beta on both parts.

Why would either of them give a fuck about this girl? If I was worth millions, famous, etc I certainly wouldn't be groveling over my buddy's girl nor spending exorbitant money on them.

Fucked up on Bransons part as well, but whatever, a slut's a slut. Women are going to take the option they see as an "upgrade", there's no loyalty.

Post: #2

How is this 'the most red pill story ever' when your comments even call it Beta. I would entitle it, bros before hos and sluts gonna slut

Edit: Also, all of this fighting for this? That woman's got game.

Post: #3

Red pill because she had been dating the other dude (famous and shit, refused to hook up w girls) since HS and he thought she was the one. Branson came along and she wasn't interested until he showed her the private island he could buy. It's red pill because it shows that even "the one" will throw you off for a better opportunity, and Branson didn't show that opportunity until the island. Ronnie has been forced to take the red pill.

Post: #4

I wouldn't call it red pill, I'd call it being a cunt.

Post: #5

""But he only ever had eyes for Joan. He thought they'd be together for ever." (Ronnie)

^There was his mistake: a big fat case of oneitis. The dude was a rockstar and he wouldn't slay pussy on the side. How many times have I said women are attracted to you even more when you have plates spinning?

Add to that that he acted like a bitch ass punk with Branson and "asked him to leave his wife alone", and there's any surprise what happened here?

If I was married and some cat fucked my wife, two people are going to disappear: the dude + her and they ain't ever coming back. Easy, moving on.

At the core of the story Ronnie sounds Beta as fuck and Branson took what he wanted, which is Alpha as fuck.

Post: #6

There is a reason his company is called Virgin.

Post: #7

(01-30-2014 12:22 AM)Christian McQueen Wrote:  ""But he only ever had eyes for Joan. He thought they'd be together for ever." (Ronnie)

^There was his mistake: a big fat case of oneitis. The dude was a rockstar and he wouldn't slay pussy on the side. How many times have I said women are attracted to you even more when you have plates spinning?

Add to that that he acted like a bitch ass punk with Branson and "asked him to leave his wife alone", and there's any surprise what happened here?

If I was married and some cat fucked my wife, two people are going to disappear: the dude + her and they ain't ever coming back. Easy, moving on.

At the core of the story Ronnie sounds Beta as fuck and Branson took what he wanted, which is Alpha as fuck.

How is fukkin your best friends girl alpha? He could've been slaying models on the reg and he spends insane amounts of money on her. Sounds like a baby back bitch

Post: #8

"How is fukkin your best friends girl alpha?"

I didn't say he was alpha for fucking his best friend's girl, I said he's alpha for going for what he wants.

And Ronnie was a little bitch for letting it escalate to that point.

There's a reason why I preach the importance of developing your inner Alpha, so you don't have to experience this type of story.

Ronnie put his head in the sand and lived to regret it. He clearly never learned how to put his girl On-Lock and stupidly paid for it.

Post: #9

That's what happens when you're still plugged in. This what not being aware of TRP does. A woman's position is elevated in your life. You never even begun to think of her as anything but the prize. You end up defining yourself with respect to her. You need her to function.

This is blue pill males in love. Almost acting like women who got their first taste of "dat alpha". Maybe even worse...the women are sociopathic and often, they're also very concerned with their own well being first and foremost. The blue pill male, on the other hand, has no ambition other than being with her.

Remember Ryan Gosling in Blue Schmuck? "What do you mean I have so much potential? I'm happy now, doing this. I love being a husband and a father. This is all I want. ...huh? What about my job? No, it's not like that. It's a good deal: I have a job that lets me have a beer on the way in."

Post: #10

(01-30-2014 12:52 AM)Christian McQueen Wrote:  "How is fukkin your best friends girl alpha?"

I didn't say he was alpha for fucking his best friend's girl, I said he's alpha for going for what he wants.

And Ronnie was a little bitch for letting it escalate to that point.

There's a reason why I preach the importance of developing your inner Alpha, so you don't have to experience this type of story.

Ronnie put his head in the sand and lived to regret it. He clearly never learned how to put his girl On-Lock and stupidly paid for it.

Even though this sounds good on paper, I think you are over estimating the loyalty of women.

Women are not loyal beings. As the other guy said, they will upgrade if they feel there is that need which there is always that need, it's female nature. I have fucked so many girls that their boyfriends/husbands were true alpha guys that I just don't think the problem lies on men, I think women are just some fucked up beings.

Do you think for a woman game is enough to buy her loyalty? Well, it may work, till that one billion man walks by.

Post: #11

As usual, while Branson is a dick to do that to a friend, it's hilarious how the woman is innocent in this. Remember, she had an oath to keep, not Branson - that automatically makes her a far bigger villain.

We've had a similar case in Croatia recently - the owner of the largest private security company in the country "stole" the wife of his successful (but not nearly so influential) lawyer friend. The exact words used in the article that covered it were:

"She told him to go away several times, but he [the owner of the private security company] kept brutally pursuing her."

Post: #12

^I am very aware of women's hypergamous nature.

My point is that if Ronnie would have had tight game there would have been 2 different outcomes:

1. His tight game would have kept her satisfied and she would have told Branson to fuck off. Obviously she wasn't getting gina tingles with Ronnie, so if it wouldn't been Branson, it might have been the village butcher.

Or

2. The moment Ronnie found out she cheated he would have kicked her ass out, not been emotionally wrecked and immediately started banging groupies without much thought.

I've seen the effects of tight game and while it's not full-proof by any means, it can reduce the risk of the woman straying.

If a woman wants to cheat she will, regardless of the man's game, however, part of having great game is learning to screen the fuck out of women for the ones who have a standard for loyalty.

Believe it or not, there are women in the world who are loyal. Rare of course, but they do exist.

Generally these women, have a higher moral standard of ethics and usually are religious in nature. I grew up in a very religious environment and know firsthand seeing the church sluts and the girls who you couldn't get their pants off with $10,000 in cash.

Post: #13

The whole time I read this I was thinking " what's the point of becoming a rockstar if you are going to have oneitis?" I don't want to hear rock from married people.

The other thing I was thinking was "what does this woman look like?"

All three of them sound a little crazy to me.

I bet that the rocker's predisposition for oneitis probsbly held him back from becoming much more famous. People can smell the beta..

Post: #14

"I bet that the rocker's predisposition for oneitis probsbly held him back from becoming much more famous. People can smell the beta.."

^Brilliant.

Post: #15

(01-30-2014 03:02 AM)pitt Wrote:  Even though this sounds good on paper, I think you are overestimating the loyalty of women.

Women are not loyal beings. As the other guy said, they will upgrade if they feel there is that need which there is always that need, it's female nature. I have fucked so many girls that their boyfriends/husbands were true alpha guys that I just don't think the problem lies on men, I think women are just some fucked up beings.

Do you think for a woman game is enough to buy her loyalty? Well, it may work, till that one billion man walks by.

To be fair, loyalty is a hard quality to find in anyone.

Your family can deny you
Your friends can betray you
Your girl/wife can leave you

It shouldn't take a "red pill" to realize that life doesn't owe or guarantee you anything regardless of your position. Stay hungry and you'll never starve.

Post: #16

It always boggles my mind to see how when dudes catch their women cheating they try to confront the other guy!?

Fix the girl or get her out of your life. What the hell is trying to wrestle with the guy going to achieve. You'd have to truly, financially or physically break him or don't even bother (and you'd have to do it again for the next guy she finds).

Also, not much red pill about this. In fact I thought Branson could do better.

Post: #17

(01-30-2014 04:44 AM)Vicious Wrote:  It always boggles my mind to see how when dudes catch their women cheating they try to confront the other guy!?

Fix the girl or get her out of your life. What the hell is trying to wrestle with the guy going to achieve. You'd have to truly, financially or physically break him or don't even bother (and you'd have to do it again for the next guy she finds).

Also, not much red pill about this. In fact I thought Branson could do better.

Fair enough If they've been caught cheating. But the story tells that Dick Branson pursued her for a while before they got it on. Whether that was before or after he confronted him is a mystery. But if your best friend is clearly going after your wife, why wouldn't you confront him? What are you supposed to do? Wait until he fucks her and then say "oh well, there's nothing I could have done".

Post: #18

Did you even read what I wrote? Is FIX THE GIRL your way of doing nothing?

Nowhere in the actual article (other than the short by-line) is there any indication of how they were best friends. Sounds more like Ronnie was employed by Richard.

Post: #19

So...you wouldn't say anything if some cunt started following your wife around like a bad smell?

Quote:A week after their first meeting, Branson surprised Joan by turning up at her workplace, a shop near London's trendy Portobello Road which sold Victorian posters and antiques.

Anxious to impress, the young Branson swept her off to Duveens, the restaurant he owned nearby. It was the start of a concerted campaign to woo her. Whenever Ronnie was away, Branson was quick to move in with dinner invitations.

He was a regular visitor to the shop, usually walking out with another memento he didn't need.

In fact, everywhere Joan went, Branson would appear, tipped off by mutual friends who worked at his record company.

He even earned the nickname Tag, for his habit of asking if he could tag along with friends who were meeting Joan that evening.

Tell him to fuck off. It's not her fault at this point.

Post: #20

The hypergamous nature of women is attested to throughout history, in law, society, and culture. I recall that during Athens golden age women from the upper class luved secluded within the home. To quote Pericles' Funeral Oration (worth googling) he said, "a proper woman is never spoken of by men outside the family." Why? For this very reason.

I recall one sample law case from that era I translated in which a husband suspected another man was literally creeping on his wife, and of his wife's disloyalty. So the husband laid in wait, caught the man in the middle of the night, beat him in front of all the neighbors (that was proper protocol then to have neighbors as witnesses like the old English commonlaw practice of shouting "stop! Thief!"), and after restraining him hauled him off to court. Keep in mind at this time, the wife's volition played no part as women were considered minors under the law.

This dishonorable man stole his friend's wife, in past times there would have been a duel, or at the very least considered untrustworthy. Game is how we maintain the balance, being dispassionate is our cudgel.

Post: #21

Read like oneitis vs. oneitis to me. Props to her for getting such two high-status guys to compete for her.

Post: #22

This article just makes both of these guys sound like beta.

It's a sad read for me as I was thinking of Branson as a strong personality and a good role model, but this shakes his reputation in my eyes. Stalking a married woman like that seems too obsessive. Were she a virgin it could have been pardoned but an already used woman is not worth that. He got her with money and not personality, how boring.

Ronnie - His biggest mistake was not impregnating a wife for 12 whole years. The woman's imperative is to get pregnant and if a man cannot impregnate her for whole 12 years then her subconscious must decide to reject this man and start looking for alpha seed elsewhere. There is no point to marry a woman if you don't want children. Keeping a healthy and functioning womb out of work is just asking for trouble. It doesn't matter how alpha the man was at start and how much the woman is at love in him at start - not fulfilling the biological imperative takes its toll. You can game a woman for a year or maybe five, but after that if the woman doesn't get children she starts to question her love. Nature abhors vacuum. His second mistake is obviously his Oneitis. As a Rockstar he had no need to get fixed on any single woman who was not even a mother for his children.

It seems to me that Joan really wanted children and the fact that she got preggy from Bronson, quite fast and the whole drama surrounding her pregnancy in contrast to 12 childless years with rockstar guy - all that involuntary played in Branson's favour and cemented their relationship. That and his money.

Post: #23

A hot woman will ALWAYS have guys running after her. Trying to bounce every suitor is a poverty mentality.

You can't stop guys from hitting on women. But you can make that one woman impervious to their advances. If that still doesn't work, NEXT.

Post: #24

(01-30-2014 05:11 AM)Vroom Wrote:  So...you wouldn't say anything if some cunt started following your wife around like a bad smell?

Quote:A week after their first meeting, Branson surprised Joan by turning up at her workplace, a shop near London's trendy Portobello Road which sold Victorian posters and antiques.

Anxious to impress, the young Branson swept her off to Duveens, the restaurant he owned nearby. It was the start of a concerted campaign to woo her. Whenever Ronnie was away, Branson was quick to move in with dinner invitations.

He was a regular visitor to the shop, usually walking out with another memento he didn't need.

In fact, everywhere Joan went, Branson would appear, tipped off by mutual friends who worked at his record company.

He even earned the nickname Tag, for his habit of asking if he could tag along with friends who were meeting Joan that evening.

Tell him to fuck off. It's not her fault at this point.

I'm with Vicious here. It is her fault if some guy is pursing her, she's not sending a strong enough message. Sometimes its because she likes the attention or sometimes its because she is 'too nice'.

When I have had this happen before I've taken the girl aside and said "that guy is not being cool, he's being disrespectful to my relationship and thats a problem" she would try to say I'm over reacting or something placating and I would then say "its a problem, either you fix it, or I'll fix it"

If she ever said something like "oh I'd like to see you try tough guy" I'd be dead in the water and my relationship would be on the way to being done, however what would happen is that she would more sternly tell the guy to move on. If the dude got more worked up then I would step in but that only happened once.

That is the approach that I would characterize as 'fixing the girl' its making her responsible for keeping suitors at bay instead of being the victim because she was 'relentlessly pursued' which is bullshit.

Post: #25

(01-30-2014 08:39 AM)Dr. Howard Wrote:  That is the approach that I would characterize as 'fixing the girl' its making her responsible for keeping suitors at bay instead of being the victim because she was 'relentlessly pursued' which is bullshit.

Hey guys something just hit me.

What we heard here is not a documentary but a story of a butt-hurt beta.

Perhaps Branson didn't stalk Ronnies wife so much. perhaps he just showed up and the unsatisfied woman went for him as for a breeze of fresh air!? Perhaps this is just the rationalization of a beta who cannot accept that a woman would leave him on her own will and therefore needs to fabricate stories about how the more alpha guy got her trough obsessive stalking and cheap flaunting with money.

Or maybe I just cling to this version as to the straw of hope, because I really liked Branson before this story.