There is something endearingly incongruous about the so-called ‘hard man’ of football and Hollywood, Vinnie Jones, snuggling two puppies to his chest as he poses for photographs. He reassures Pip, the pups’ mother, who barely leaves his side all day, snoozing on his lap one moment and riding shotgun in his Polaris the next. Jones has learnt to share his space with her, including the limelight. ‘I was in the Post Office recently when an old lady said: “I know you, don’t I? You’ve got that little dog, Pip, on that show.”’

‘That show’ is Vinnie Jones in the Country , the Discovery+ series that documents life on Jones’s 2,000-acre West Sussex estate, half of which is leased and the other he owns. He and his partner, Emma Ford, have a passion for renovating old buildings. Budgets are often b

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