Foster mother of missing rugby player Levi Davis says 24-year-old could be ‘running from something’

Missing rugby ace Levi Davis said he was being ‘blackmailed’ and felt his ‘life was in danger’ in a since-deleted video posted to social media, it emerged today, as his ‘terrified’ family’s search entered its 10th day.

The former England player, 24, disappeared from Barcelona on October 29 and was last seen on CCTV leaving The Old Irish Pub, situated on the bustling La Rambla strip in the heart of the Catalan capital. 

In a statement today, the pub said that he left at 10pm and turned left towards Plaça Catalunya, urging anyone who may have seen him to contact the authorities. 

Levi had travelled to Barcelona from Ibiza, but left behind all of his clothes and luggage except for a small black rucksack. There have only been two possible sightings since he vanished – on a beach in nearby Sitges and in a doorway in Barcelona – but neither have been confirmed. 

Speaking to Sky News’ Kay Burley on Tuesday morning, his foster mother Susanne Balfour confirmed the existence of the video in which he mentioned a blackmail threat.  She added that Levi was ‘frightened’ and could have been ‘running from something’, after telling a friend he ‘had to get out of Ibiza.’ 

Ms Burley asked Susanne if his sexuality – he came out as bisexual in 2020 – could have been linked to the alleged blackmail, to which she replied: ‘I have no idea… last year we did speak about his sexuality and how he felt… but I have no idea how that has transpired to today.

‘I don’t know what’s going on… he might be just frightened, he did say in that video that his life was in danger, I don’t know whether he’s running from something, I just don’t know.’ 

She added: ‘Levi said he needed to get out of Ibiza, when his friend asked why he just said he needed to get out… he was actually on a ferry from Ibiza going to Barcelona… but that was the last thing he heard from him.’

Appearing alongside Susanne, Levi’s sister Candeece Balfour, 23, made an emotional appeal directly to her brother, saying: ‘I just want him to know that he’s loved by everyone and I just want him to come home… he’s an amazing person.

‘We are looking for you and we just want you to come home.’

Meanwhile Spanish police had yet to launch an official investigation as of Monday evening, saying they were waiting for a missing person’s report from the British authorities. 

It comes as it was reported last night that the day before he was last seen, Levi posted a series of photos under the title ‘My first nudes’ to OnlyFans – a subscription service often used by adult performers. 

Levi, who joined the website last month, also uploaded photos of himself in his swimming trunks, which had been taken in Ibiza by London-based photographer Ade Adetona, reports the Times. His close friend Richard Squire, who has launched a GoFundMe page to help fund the search for Levi, was the art director of the shoot. 

Julie Davis (pictured) told MailOnline that Levi was contemplating quitting rugby after suffering an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury, leaving him without a club and requiring surgery

CCTV footage from the Old Irish Pub in Barcelona shows Mr Davis leaving the venue carrying a black rucksack and wearing a white t-shirt, black trousers and black and white trainers 

Close friend Richard Squire has launched a GoFundMe page (pictured) to help fund the search for Levi

In a statement today, the Old Irish Pub said that he left at 10pm and turned left towards Plaça Catalunya, urging anyone who may have seen him to contact the authorities

Mr Squire, who lives in Ibiza, wants to raise money to ‘get his friends and family on the ground in Spain to walk the streets looking for him and follow up on any leads’, the fundraising page says, adding: ‘Money raised will be used to cover travel and accommodation costs and, once he’s found, get him the professional help he needs.’

The Old Irish Pub, where Levi was last seen, released a statement today, saying it had handed over all its CCTV footage from the day he disappeared. 

The company wrote: ‘The Old Irish Pub Barcelona became aware the missing person Levi Davis was last seen in our pub at around 22:00 on the 29th of October.

‘We contacted the police department and gave all the CCTV images of him in the pub. We are assisting the police in any way we can, and our staff that day described the situation to the local authorities.

‘Levi Davis leaves the pub at around 22:00 and turns left La Rambla towards Plaça Catalunya.

‘If anyone has seen him after this time we urge them to contact the local police. We hope he will be found safe soon.’

Levi, who has appeared on The X Factor: Celebrity and Celebs Go Dating, told his family ‘I’ll catch you guys soon, 100 per cent’ in his last message to them, sent as a voice clip to his sister three days before his disappearance. 

His sister Candeece said the information she has heard is ‘scary’ and that she wants to tell her brother that she loves him.

She told The Mirror: ‘I want to remind him and if anything, he knows that my mum of all people is the person he can go to.’ She added: ‘He was basically in Ibiza with a friend and he left all his stuff and he didn’t go back. That’s what’s even more concerning, because why would you not come back for your clothes?’

The Telegraph reported that she messaged him on October 26 after seeing him make a troubling three-minute video on his Instagram account, which has now been deleted.

She sent him a message saying: ‘Hey Bro, I saw your video yesterday and wanted to share the love from the family with you at this time!’.

His mother, Julie Davis told MailOnline that the X Factor star was depressed with ‘deep issues’ before he went missing two weeks ago, and was also contemplating quitting rugby after suffering an Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury, leaving him without a club and requiring surgery.

He had also spoken to her about financial problems and complained about his treatment by the rugby world, claiming he had suffered racism during his career.

His sister Candeece shared the voice note with The Telegraph and received it after reaching out to her brother when he posted a three-minute video on his Instagram account, she told the newspaper. 

In her message, sent on October 26, three days before Mr Davis went missing, she told her brother that his family love him, are there for him and are proud of him ‘sharing [his] story’.

In the recording, Mr Davis said: ‘Appreciate it, appreciate you sis, honestly I really do, I love you guys, seriously I love you. And yeah it is tough, but you know me, I’m a fighter, that’s what I’m going to do.

‘Thanks for getting in touch, I really really really do appreciate you guys getting in touch. I’m really sorry I’ve always been awful, but especially over this last period it’s been really hard keeping in contact.

‘I’ll catch you guys soon, 100 per cent.’

Mr Davis, 24, who came fifth on X Factor: Celebrity in 2019, was captured on CCTV leaving The Old Irish Pub at around 10.05pm on October 29.

Prior to that he had been staying with a friend in Ibiza. Davis suddenly told his friend that he was going to see some friends in the Catalan city and left without his belongings.

Spanish police have said that they haven’t launched a formal investigation into the disappearance because they are waiting to be notified that Mr Davis is missing.

The 24-year-old winger starred on X Factor: Celebrity in 2019 and E4’s Celebs Go Dating in 2020. His close friend Richard Squire, who lives in Ibiza, said Mr Davis told him he was going to see some mates and got a boat to Barcelona

Miss Davis (pictured with Levi and his brother and sister) said the rugby star was depressed with ‘deep issues’ before he went missing two weeks ago

‘We are aware of the news of this man’s disappearance from press reports and social media but are still awaiting official notification he is missing,’ a spokeswoman for Catalonia’s Mossos d’Esquadra force in Barcelona told The Sun on Sunday.

‘It appears he was reported missing by his family in the UK but that notification has not yet reached us.

‘We cannot launch a formal investigation until it does but are working on the basis that it may reach us later today.’

When the notification arrives, investigators will look into whether Mr Davis’ disappearance is linked to a crime.

Miss Davis told MailOnline: ‘There have been a lot of issues going on for Levi recently which he shared with me. I think it was a build up of these things which eventually just blew his mind.

‘Rugby has not been the best at looking after Levi and he’s suffered a lot of racial prejudice. He didn’t have a club and was also recently having money worries. At the same time there was some very deep emotional stuff around relationships that I can’t really go into.’

She added: ‘It seems as if everything just got too much for him and it’s led to Levi going missing. He’s had mental issues in the past but it seems as if this time he’s not been able to handle them.’

His distraught mother was speaking moments after being informed of two possible sightings of Levi over the weekend. One was of him on a beach in Sitges, just outside Barcelona, while the other was of him sitting in the doorway of a shop in the city.

Miss Davis said: ‘A Spanish woman saw him on the beach in Sitges and noticed him after seeing all the media publicity about his disappearance. She said he looked homeless and dishevelled and when she tried to speak to him, he ignored her and walked away.

‘In the other sighting he was sitting in a doorway in Barcelona. The sightings are a bit of positive news at a difficult time for the family.’

Miss Davis, 51, revealed that she and her eldest son Nathan, 34, are due to fly to Barcelona later this week to help with the search.

She added: ‘We’re going to do everything we can to find him and bring home so that he can get the help he needs.

‘He knows that we love him and will be there for him.’ 

Davis, who also appeared on E4’s Celebs Go Dating in 2020, was part of singing group call Try Star on ITV’s X Factor alongside fellow rugby stars Ben Foden and Thom Evans.

The trio were eliminated during the show’s semi-finals in 2019 after a competitive sing-off against girl band V5.

Miss Davis revealed that prior to going missing, her son had told her that he was considering quitting rugby to focus on his music.

She added: ‘He said that he still loves the game but wasn’t sure if he had a future in it. That’s big life decisions, everything was up in the air for him but I think he’d had enough of English rugby.’

His sister Ms Balfour said that she ‘just wants him to come home’, telling the Mirror: ‘I want to remind him and if anything he knows that my mum of all people is the person he can go to.’ 

Before going missing, Davis had been staying with his close friend Richard Squire, who lives in Ibiza. Davis told him that he was going to see some friends in Barcelona. 

Davis is said to have left the island on a boat without clothes or cash, carrying just a small black backpack. 

‘He announced suddenly that he was going to meet friends in Barcelona,’ Mr Squire told The Sun. ‘But he didn’t say who they were and we haven’t heard from him since I received a video from the Irish pub on October 29.’

Mr Squire added that there’s been ‘no word from him since’ and everyone is getting ‘increasingly worried’.

CCTV footage from the Old Irish Pub shows Mr Davis leaving the venue carrying a black rucksack and wearing a white t-shirt, black trousers and black and white trainers. 

Miss Davis, 51, told MailOnline she and her eldest son Nathan, 34, are due to fly to Barcelona later this week to help with the search

Rugby player Levi Davis is missing after not being seen for more than a week. His last known whereabouts were at The Old Irish pub in Barcelona on October 29

Fellow rugby star Thom Evans gave an emotional plea for information about the disappearance of his friend

Levi Davis’s mother Julie revealed that prior to going missing, her son told her he was considering quitting rugby to focus on his music 

England rugby stars Freddie Burns and Tom Varndell have posted on social media urging anyone who has seen him to get in contact.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Varndell said: ‘If anyone has seen or heard from Levi Davis in the last two weeks could you please drop me a message asap. Many thanks.’

The 37-year-old told ITV News that Mr Davis’s loved ones are ‘terrified’ and that he just wants to track him down and get him back to his mother.

Mr Varndell said: ‘The fact that he hasn’t made contact with anybody since the 29 October, not even his mum, is extremely worrying right now.

‘It is so out of character for Levi to not make any contact whatsoever.’

He added: ‘He suffers massively from depression and he does have bouts of feeling very low and down and I think that’s on the back of him.

‘There’s definitely some issues that he’s been battling at the moment and for a while around his mental health.’

Leicester Tigers player Freddie Burns shared Varndell’s Twitter appeal, adding: ‘Please share. Praying Levi is found safe and well’.

His fellow X Factor band mate Thom Evans gave an emotional plea for information about Davis’s disappearance.

He shared a missing poster and wrote on Instagram: ‘I’m very worried about the whereabouts of my friend. If anyone knows anything please contact the information below.’

His former club, Bath Rugby, also issued an appeal for information about the whereabouts of the athlete.

The rugby player’s worried family have also reported him as a missing person to local police in Spain.

Mr Davis, 24, came fifth on X Factor: Celebrity in 2019. His mother said that before his disappearance he had been considering quitting rugby to focus on his music

He was last spotted in The Old Irish pub off La Rambla in Barcelona, Spain, on October 29 

Former England rugby star Tom Varndell has urged anybody who has seen missing rugby player Levi Davis to make contact

Leicester Tigers star Freddie Burns (left) and former England Rugby star Tom Varndell (right) urgently appealed to anyone who had information on the young player’s whereabouts 

Davis starred alongside fellow rugby stars Thom Evans (left, next to Dermot O’Leary) and Ben Foden in a singing group called Try Star on X Factor: Celebrity

The Solihull-born rugby union player began his career at Bath in 2017 and now plays for Worthing Raiders in the National League 2 South.

He scored the first try of the season in 2019-2020 before being moved on loan to Ealing Rugby. He later left the club.

In 2020 he became the first professional rugby player to come out as bisexual in an interview with the Mail on Sunday.

He said he told his teammates about his sexuality via a group message on WhatsApp, writing: ‘Hi guys. I just want to tell you something that’s been eating away at me for four years now.

‘I want to be open and honest with you boys, as friends and team-mates. I’m bisexual. It’s something I have known since I was 18.’

Ending the message in playful fashion, he assured them that, owing to their appearance, ‘none of you lot are on my radar… so it’s OK’.

Mr Davis said his teammates were all supportive and understanding. He recalled: ‘Then they began taking the p*** in a good-natured way, which I was relieved about. If they had been too tender-hearted, I would have been worried. I’m still a rugby player, after all!’

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: ‘We are providing consular support to the family of a British man who has been reported missing in Spain.’