Rupert Mannion is a recurring character featured in the Apple TV+ show, Ted Lasso. He is the former owner of AFC Richmond as he lost the ownership of the club to his ex-wife, Rebecca Welton from a divorce settlement. Rebecca found out he had been seeing other women behind her back and alleged that Leslie Higgins helped him in that endeavor.
Rebecca planned to drive the club's name into the ground along with Rupert's name by hiring Ted Lasso; a coach from an obscure, college-level American football team in Kansas.
History[]
The Player[]
When Ted first touring the Nelson Road Stadium, he notices a picture of Rupert being surrounded by beautiful women and make a comment that the man looked happy. Rebecca dryly says that it was her ex-husband, the former owner of the club.
During a press conference, Ernie Lounds, a reporter for The Sun asks Rebecca, whom he wrongly refers to as "Rebecca Mannion", what her thoughts are on her husband seeing another woman who revealed herself recently. She responds by saying that her ex-husband can see whoever he wants now they are not together. Ernie trying to bait her by mentioning that Rupert was already having an affair with the woman even when Rebecca was still married to him. Rebecca almost take the bait, but she only smiles and sarcastically say that she thought that men can't do multitasks.
According to Keeley Jones, Rupert's new girlfriend is also named 'Rebecca', so the media dubbed her 'Bex' and called Rebecca as the 'old Rebecca'. Rebecca is furious with the whole thing and determined to destroy the club without anyone knowing, except for Higgins.
The Sabotaging Game[]
In order to get back at at Rebecca, Rupert attends the 10th Annual Benefit for Underprivileged Children hosted by Rebecca and AFC Richmond despite telling Rebecca he would not.
The charming Rupert Mannion
When he attends the event, Ted implies to him that Rupert had cancelled an appearance by Robbie Williams and also takes over the event in order to assert his authority. By cancelling Robbie Williams, Rupert wants to humiliate Rebecca by not having a famous singer therefore making her look bad by the media and her peers.
Ted and Higgins decides to bring a street busker onto the stage to save the dinner event. At first, everyone is skeptical but immediately dances their night away. The event is successful and Rupert congratulates Rebecca.
Rebecca and Ted goes to the The Crown & Anchor to meet with The Milk Sisters; two minor shareholders for the club, but instead they are greeted by Rupert who already convinces the sister to sold their shares to Bex, his new fiancée. She buys a 2.9% ownership stake in the team with Rupert’s money, much to Rebecca’s chagrin. Ted plays darts and bets that if he loses, Rupert can choose starting line up for the remaining two games of the season. But if Ted wins, Rupert and his fiancée can never be allowed in the owners box. Rupert agrees and is about to win, but Ted beats him on the last throw. Rupert respects the bet afterwards and leaves.
The Cruel Man[]
A few weeks later, Rupert visits Rebecca in her office, announcing that Bex is pregnant. Shocked to hear the news, Rebecca is angry because back when they were married, she had to sacrifice her needs to have a family because he didn't want to have children. Rupert cruelly tells her that maybe the reason why he didn't want children is because he didn't want to have children with her. The shocking revelation makes Rebecca realizes that no matter what, Rupert is a cruel and unkind man, and she doesn't want to be like that. She decides to come clean to Ted about everything; that she had been using him to ruin the club's reputation. She tells Ted that the club is the only thing that Rupert loves, and she just want to destroy it. Ted forgives her and understands how divorce can be hard for someone.
During the match against Manchester City F.C., Isaac McAdoo leads the team into using the 'Lasso Special' elaborate set-piece; the American Football strategy confuses the opposing team, and it gives Dani Rojas a chance to score a goal. Everyone is ecstatic including Rupert because the team fantastically scored a goal. Unfortunately, they lost the match and the club is relegated. Rupert is visibly upset when the team lost the match which prompts Bex to leave him alone with his thoughts.
The 'Changed' Man[]
When Rebecca's father died, Rupert and Bex with their new baby daughter come uninvited to the funeral, claiming that they want to pay some respect. Deborah greets the family in a friendly manner, which upsets Rebecca. Inside the church, Rupert greets Flo Collins but his politeness isn't being reciprocate by her, as she manages to insult him for hurting Rebecca and everyone else. Rupert claims that he is a changed man after the birth of his daughter, a claim that being taken in disbelief by her as she wishes him to die.
After the funeral, Rupert thanked Rebecca and Deborah for their hospitality, even tells his ex-wife that she can have the remaining shares of the club as a gift, and the fact that his current wife is now busy with the baby. Before he leaves, he whispers something to Nathan Shelley's ear and pats him on the back. Rebecca sees the gesture and being suspicious about it, especially after seeing Nate smiles.
The New Club[]
While having a hearty conversation with Keeley, Rebecca finds out that Rupert is now the new owner of West Ham United F.C. and realizes why he gave the remaining shares of the AFC Richmond to her.
Rupert greets Nate in his office
A few months later, Nate is the new manager of West Ham United, and while he's observing the players during training, Rupert approaches him and whispers something in his ear, while patting his back. He seems very satisfied to have Nate as the new manager, grabbing him from Rebecca's club. For the rest of the year, Nate is working as a coach and manager under the watchful eyes of Rupert. The wealthy man realizes that Nate is their secret weapon to beat Richmond, so he spoils the young man, giving him many privileges.
The sport pundits are predicting that West Ham United will ranked 8th in the newest football season while Richmond will finishes last, a fact that Rupert enjoys so much as he shares it with Nate. He guffaws when he heard Nate is making a joke against Richmond's ranking and tells him to tell that joke during the press conference. Rupert praises Nate and calling him a 'Killer' and criticized their former club for not knowing how much value Richmond has lost for letting Nate go.
Rupert's assistant Ms. Kakes informs both of them that a small green car that parked on the Prestige Parking space is being towed away. Nate awkwardly tells Rupert that the shabby car belonged to him which makes Rupert surprised. The boss apologized to Nate and then tells him that he knows that the younger man will make him proud and he believes in him.
During the press conference, Rupert watches Nate answering some reporters questions regarding his role in West Ham United and his former club Richmond. Nate answers a lot of questions with determination and an air of ruthlessness, which reminds Rupert of himself. Nate dryly makes some insults and mocks Ted Lasso especially when a video of Richmond players climbing down a London sewer goes viral, as he's calling Ted a shitty coach. Rupert is really proud to see and hear Nate's attitude facing the reporters, especially those who underestimate him.
Rupert then gifted Nate a brand new sport car that already parked at the Prestige Parking space. He watches Nate drives away with his new car from the window of his office, smirking.
Chasing Zava[]
When the best footballer Zava announced that he's leaving his club Juventus to join the Premier League in England, a lot of clubs immediately offered him to join them including Chelsea F.C., Arsenal F.C., West Ham United F.C., and AFC Richmond. During the match between Richmond vs Chelsea, Zava makes an appearance and Rupert is also there, trying to charm the footballer to join West Ham United. Rebecca tries to talk to Zava, but his bodyguard, Matthew, stops her until Rupert tells him it's okay. Zava meets Rebecca who snobbishly says to her that "It's an honor for you to meet me" and he leaves her while being friendly with Rupert.
During the press conference after the game, Mr. Gilman welcomes Zava as the newest member of Chelsea Football Club. As Zava is about to sign the contract for Chelsea, he speaks in front of the journalists that he changed his mind and will not join Chelsea F.C. He announces that he will join Richmond Football Club instead. The news upsets Rupert so much, he chucks his phone away after watching the news from his car.
The Villain Origin[]
Rupert fired his personal assistant, Ms. Kakes, when Rebecca caught him kissing her after the match between West Ham United and Richmond. Rebecca calls him out and says that Bex and Diane doesn't deserve him, and that seems to offend him. He gets offended again when Nate refuses to cheat on his girlfriend, Jade, which results in him ignoring the coach and letting him go when Nate quits the club. He hired a new personal assistant that he knew that he would not be attracted to named Ms. Bread.
Rebecca and Rupert laughs
When billionaire Edwin Akufo invited him and other billionaires and owners of the UK football clubs to discuss a possibility of creating a Super League Football, he invites Rebecca for the luncheon. At the luncheon meeting, Edwin offers some proposal that he wants to make a super league by combining a lot of clubs, and only the selected rich people who can watch the games. Their goal is to make money from the games of football, and that is why he invited billionaires to join his league.
Rebecca thinks that his idea is stupid, that it's not about the football anymore, but it's about money and it will prevent regular people to enjoy football. She manages to persuade everyone in the room not to join the league because she tells a story of the love of football from many people, including Rupert. Apparently, a young Rupert was poor and he used to sneak into the Nelson Road Stadium to watch football but got caught by the groundskeeper Renee who slapped him very hard to the ground. Rupert is mesmerized that Rebecca remembers his origin, and the fact that when he returned as a rich man, he bought the Richmond club and promoted the groundskeeper as a guard.
Edwin storms off from the luncheon after he threw a tantrum and food at the billionaires, including at Rebecca and Rupert. They both laugh hysterically especially seeing other billionaires covered with food and for a moment they're having a nice moment together. It reminisces to him that they were good together and how much he loved Rebecca back then. Lord Robert Wadsworth reminds them that both of them were a perfect couple, and it brings Rupert a sense of nostalgia. He makes a move to kiss Rebecca, but she rejects him immediately and leaves. Rupert is shocked and a bit offended that she refused his approach.
Defeat[]
On top of having to deal with accusations of sexual misconduct and divorced from Bex, during the final match, West Ham started to lose their edge and Richmond began to surge towards victory. Beyond furious, Rupert storms onto the field to coach George Cartrick and angrily berates him for doing a bad job. The entire stadium and TV audience watch as Rupert furiously talks with him. George tries to defend himself, when Rupert orders him to have one of his players injure Jamie Tartt in order to win them back the match. George is appalled and shocked at his owner's willingness to hurt and cheat, and refuses his command. Enraged, Rupert threatens to fire him if he doesn't.
Instead, George cusses him out which makes Rupert goes ballistic and hits the coach, shoving him to the ground. The entire stadium and all the viewers watching on TV are shocked and angered. Rebecca had hoped since she had left him, the whole world now knew Rupert's true colors. The referees order Rupert to get off the pitch. As Rupert storms off, the entire audience starts chanting "WANKER!" at him, satisfyingly the same insult that was used for Ted back in Season 1. Humiliated and defeated, Rupert leaves the stadium in shame.
It's been revealed from the news media and newspapers that West Ham United, disgusted by all of Rupert's actions, sacked him from his owner's position, defeated at last.
Trivia[]
- Anthony Head famously portrayed another Rupert, Rupert Giles, in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- According to Nick Mohammed, for season 2 episode 10 during the funeral scene, Anthony said some very funny and obscure things to make him laugh. But he doesn't know what Rupert was supposed to whisper to Nate at the time.
- Although the whisper is inaudible, according to actor Nick Mohammed, for the season 2 finale episode, actor Anthony Head as Rupert whispered "You're welcome" in his ear.
- When Nate enters Rupert's office, the window and the background, the lighting, and Rupert's large chair is reminiscent of Emperor Palpatine's chamber in the Death Star in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return Of The Jedi".