Former England star Carlton Cole was the victim of a practical joke during his time with the Three Lions, with this particular trick leaving him rather rigid
12:14, 28 Aug 2025
Carlton Cole speaks with Sky Sports during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and West Ham United at St Mary's Stadium on December 14, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom
Carlton Cole recalled the humorous incident on In The Mixer(Image: 2019 Getty Images)
Carlton Cole has revealed he was tricked into taking Viagra by his ex-England colleagues during an international training camp. The West Ham fan favourite opened up about the joke played on him by former Three Lions team-mates Jermain Defoe and Wayne Rooney.
Chelsea academy graduate Cole, who gave up some wilder habits to earn his international call-up, scored 51 Premier League goals over the course of 13 seasons spent in England's top flight. He made his England debut under Fabio Capello in 2009 in a friendly against Spain but failed to find the back of the net in seven outings for his country.
It was during his time in the Three Lions set-up that Cole was victim to a prank at the hands of his peers. And he has admitted it had him "running around with a third leg."
"I was away with England," said the 41-year-old while speaking on In The Mixer, brought to you by Sky Bet. "I actually forgot about this before speaking with Jermain Defoe. He was part of it, he’s a wrong 'un! He spiked me basically.
"This is what it was. We used to get little supplements with our food sometimes in the morning. Just supplements. So Wayne Rooney, he put something down that I didn’t know, it was this little thing.
"He goes, 'Oh, take that as well. That’s the new one.' It was blue. I can’t remember exactly how it went, but I’ve gone, 'Yeah, yeah.' I just want to be around the lads. I’m trying to impress. I’m trying to make sure I’m doing everything. So, I’m going, ‘Yeah, man.' The thing is, I've taken it, washed it back, but I didn't notice anything, and everyone's laughing behind me.
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"It's only until [I'm] like, 'Why is everyone laughing?' And everyone's going, 'Well, that was Viagra that you took. That blue pill.' I was like, 'Oh, serious?'"
Cole went on to reveal he didn't even know what Viagra was at that stage of his life. However, the gravity of the prank soon dawned on the youngster as disbelief turned to disappointment, not that he allowed it to get in the way of his training.
He continued: "But obviously, how am I supposed to even know? Who's come to training with a Viagra pill anyway? Like, what are you doing? And then you give it to me.
"Like, it's bang out of order. Anything could have happened, you know? And a lot did happen that day at training. Nice to see you. Nice to say that I was probably the quickest on the pitch, yeah. So I was running with three legs."
Carlton Cole laughs on In The Mixer, brought to you by SkyBet
Ex-England striker Cole was left perplexed by the episode(Image: In The Mixer, brought to you by SkyBet)
Cole was at the height of his career with West Ham when he was called into Fabio Capello's squad. He scored a career-high 12 top-flight goals during the 2008/09 campaign, only topped by the 15 he netted in the Championship when he helped the Hammers gain promotion back to England's elite three years later.
Although he failed to make much of an impact in international colours, Cole remains a revered figure in east London. And while he may not have had many notable moments on the field, there are some ex-England team-mates who will surely remember him - or at least one part of him - for his time around the squad.
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Cole retired at Persib Bandung in 2017 and was briefly linked with a West Ham comeback in 2019 before the move was ruled out. He has since ventured into coaching and returned to West Ham, where he was appointed as loans and pathway manager last year.