Peter Crouch reveals Rafa Benitez warned him to 'rein it in' over pictures with his wife Abbey Clancy during his time at Liverpool.
The former striker played under the Spaniard during his three-year stint at Anfield, scoring 42 goals in 134 games across all competitions.
His relationship with Clancy, attracted a lot of attention during the height of his football career, with the pair often pictured together in newspapers.
This concerned Benitez, who suggested that it was becoming a 'problem' for his player.
The former England international has recalled a conversation he had with his former manager, in the latest 'That Peter Crouch Podcast'.
Peter Crouch has revealed that his former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez warned him about pictures with his wife Abbey Clancy during his time at Anfield
Crouch's relationship with Clancy started during his first season at Liverpool and it attracted a lot of attention during the height of his football career (pictured together in January 2008)
Crouch (pictured with Clancy on holiday) said Benitez was concerned that the couple's pictures in the newspapers was 'becoming a problem'
He said: 'I remember Rafa told me to reign it in because Abbey was in the paper and I was getting pictured with her and stuff like that.
'He was like 'are you sure about this?' And I was like 'well'... he's saying 'look, you know this is becoming a problem?'
'You know because people are taking pictures of us and we're in the paper. I think no one could believe what was going on when I was with Ab like how the f*** has he pulled that.
'My unbelievable achievements off the pitch were perhaps overshadowing my reasonable achievements on the pitch.'
Crouch first met his model wife in December 2005 in a nightclub where Clancy was working.
The couple married in June 2011, and have two daughters and two sons - Sophia Ruby (born March 2011), Liberty Rose (born June 2015), Johnny (born January 2018) and Jack (born June 2019).
Crouch has often joked about his relationship with Clancy, and spoke about their relationship in a documentary about his life.
He quipped during the documentary that until meeting Clancy, he 'couldn't pull a hamstring until I was about 21.'
Crouch and Clancy were married in 2011 and have four children together
Crouch joked that 'no one could believe' how he ended up with his model wife
Crouch previously slammed Benitez after he only came off the bench in Liverpool's 2007 Champions League final loss to AC Milan
His professional relationship with his former manager Benitez was a mixed one with the striker previously slamming the Spaniard for dropping him for the Champions League final in 2007.
Crouch only came on as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat to AC Milan - two years after the Reds' famous penalty shootout win after coming from three goals down.
He said: 'If I could change any moment in my life, it would probably be a football-related one.
'There will always be the games that got away in any footballer's career, but for me it was the Champions League Final in 2007 with Liverpool against AC Milan.
'If I could replay one game, it would probably be that because we lost.
'I'd be sitting in front of you today as a Champions League winner instead of a Champions League finalist.'