Publications
Partners
It’s astonishing what fans are willing to pay for celeb trash. From a captain’s armband discarded by soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo to actress Scarlett Johansson’s used tissue, it seems nothing is too gross to be collected.
Ronaldo proved this when the sweaty armband he hurled after being denied a match-winning goal during a World Cup qualifying match against Serbia last month, recently sold on auction for a mindboggling €64 000 (R1,1 million).
In the heated moment, the Portuguese midfielder stormed off the pitch, moments before the match ended in a 2-2 draw, angrily tossing his captain’s armband to the ground.
The item was spotted and picked up by local firefighter Djordje Vukicevic who was on duty at the match, which took place in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.
"Ronaldo was agitated [and] he threw the armband. It fell right next to me," Djordje told the BBC.
READ MORE | Digital art that sells for R1 billion?
Djordje scooped up the unwanted item and decided to do donate it to a local charity group to be put up for auction. The sizable chunk of money raised will be used to help six-month-old Gavrilo Djurdjevic who needs to undergo treatment for debilitating spinal muscular atrophy.
"We could not believe that some people who do not even know us . . . would take the armband, auction it and help our child," Gavrilo’s relieved mother, Nevena, says.
But what others are struggling to fathom is how anyone would be willing to part with so much cash for a sweaty armband.
Check out these other peculiar celeb items that sold for a small fortune:
- Pop princess Britney Spears’ used chewing gum sold for $14 000 (R203 000) on eBay. What’s more, the bidder competed against himself and knowingly pushed up the price. Money to blow, mate?
- After claiming to catch former lovers Angie and Brad’s breath in a jar on the red carpet, the seller sold their supposed air molecules for $530 (R7 600).
- Two decades ago and while he was still part of *NSYNC, a slice of Justin Timberlake’s leftover French toast sold for just over $1 000 (now R14 500) to a teenage girl named Kathy Summers on eBay. “I’ll probably freeze-dry it, then seal it . . . then put it on my dresser,” she said at the time.
- John Lennon’s loo sold for almost $15 000 (R217 000) to a hardcore Beatles fan. The flowered porcelain potty came from an estate the singer owned with his wife, Yoko Ono.
- A pair of roomy bloomers owned by Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother, auctioned for a whopping $16 300 (R236 000). Definitely not anything you’d find at Victoria’s Secret – the undergarment owned by Britain’s longest-reigning monarch was embroidered with her initials VR, Victoria Regina.
- Jay Leno once auctioned off Scarlett Johansson’s used tissue, after she appeared on his show in 2008. The tissue sold for $5 300 (R76 000), which Jay donated to hunger charity USA Harvest.
- A pair of signed Gap trackpants worn by former child star Gary Coleman caught the attention of show host Jimmy Kimmel on eBay back in 2008. After bids reached a staggering $400 000 and payment was never received by the bidder, Jimmy swooped in to steal the sweats with the second highest bid of $500 (R7 200). Gary put the pants on sale to cover his ongoing medical bills. The actor who had ongoing health issues, died in 2010 after falling down a flight of stairs at his home in Santaquin, Utah.
SOURCES: THEGUARDIAN.COM, BBC.COM, RD.COM, PEOPLE.COM, BUSINESSINSIDER.COM, EONLINE.COM
