WATCH out! There’s a new Wag in town, and given her beauty, brains and hugely successful TV career, there’s no doubt Love Island host Maya Jama is set to send shockwaves through the football world.
And whilst TV presenter Maya, 30, might be bubbling over with excitement at her new romance with Manchester City centre-back Ruben Dias, I have some straight talking advice: tread with care and trepidation.
The footballer, 27, recently shared a loved up snap of them together, and she’s a beautiful girl, intelligent and at the pinnacle of her career, the world is her oyster.
But for footballers, the world revolves around one thing: football– and certainly not their partners.
It has to be this way, their careers are so short.
Maya has been vocal about her next suitor needing to be marriage material.
She revealed in one interview: “The next person I meet I want to marry and have kids with, so obviously I’m feeling fussy.”
If this is true, she needs to be so careful if that future husband is a pro footballer.
From the age of seven, if not younger, these sportsmen are told they’re wonderful, they’re invincible, and everything is done for them.
But in Maya’s case you’ve got two people with very big careers and for a relationship to work both will need to give in a little bit – and it certainly won’t be the footballer.
When you’re with a player, they live, breathe and eat the beautiful game.
Maya would need to get used to playing second fiddle, and given her own high profile, that could be difficult.
Footballers are renowned for being on the wrong side of the newspaper.
Although their managers want them on the back pages, many land themselves on the front for salacious reasons, including infidelity and partying.
Football is the new rock and roll. Girls used to go after world famous musicians or Hollywood stars, now they go after footballers.
This is because they have the money, a glamorous lifestyle and importantly they’re attainable.
When dating a pro, you need eyes in the back of your head because every girl is longing to be with him.
Another fact the Masked Singer’s newest presenter needs to be aware of is how tough the relationship gets when things aren’t going well on the pitch.
From injuries to not getting picked for the team and having poor form as well as much more besides, believe me, dealing with any of that isn’t easy.
No-one wants to be with a crocked footballer, or one who isn’t getting chosen for their squad, because that means their world is crumbling, and it is tough.
I’m not calling for a play of violins or pity for the rich, successful footballers out there, but this is all they’ve known since a young age, so they struggle to deal with failure.
Not all players can be tarred with the same brush… but because they have been treated like gods all of their life, they have a reputation for cheating.
Lizzie Cundy
When you have 70,000 fans screaming your name twice a week it’s hardly surprising that so many get quite an ego.
But it’s even harder for the partner watching from the sidelines when that roar stops.
They’ve barely had to make a decision for themselves since primary school, even down to the smallest details like what they eat.
For a girl like Maya, life with a sportsman has lots of wonderful aspects: they get the summer break off, going to the games is great fun and football gets under your skin as you get to feel the buzz. It can be an incredible life.
But there is the flipside to the good times, it can be a very, very lonely life.
Your man is away over all of the festive period, you’ll never get a Christmas together as the biggest games of the season happen then.
And you certainly won’t be able to go out together on Fridays or weekdays running up to the big matches.
When the season’s on, let me tell you, you’re not a priority.
You will be apart so much of the time that you’ve got to have trust between you, because if that faith is broken, it’s very difficult to get back.
And here we enter another problem: the wannabe football groupies.
These young men stay in hotels for away games, girls find out and position themselves at the bar dressed to the nines waiting to pounce.
We are not talking about priests or monks, these are young, hot-blooded males with girls throwing themselves at them.
Not all players can be tarred with the same brush of course – there’s some great family-orientated guys out there – but because they have been treated like gods all of their life, they have a reputation for cheating.
Since childhood they’ve been told how wonderful they are and many earn somewhere in the region of £100k a week from around 19.
I’ve had married sportsmen slide into my DMs of course and it’s not because I’m special, that’s just what footballers do.
I had one this morning when I woke up: the fact is it’s because they feel they can.
They are cocky, because if they get in trouble, there are people to bail them out. They’ll use lawsuits to stop any gossip, or truth, in its tracks so they feel invincible.
Don’t expect life with a footballer to be normal, because it ain’t.
Footballers have an incredibly high divorce rate, a third are divorced within a year of retiring.
A footballer won’t be dancing to your tune. They are all about the game and they want to be number one as the sport has a very short span.
After their career peak, when that roar stops, when the phone ceases ringing and the clubs don’t want you, then it’s tough for the wife too and it doesn’t matter who they are or how talented they are.
Would a footballer’s lifestyle be compatible with Maya’s? I think they will be worlds apart.
I would just say go carefully Maya, do it all for the right reasons, which has to be love, but go in caution and know what you’re getting into.
I’ve had friends cry on my shoulder many times about these types of relationships failing, I’m basically a WAGony aunt.
There’s not a week goes by where I don’t hear one story or other and I just try to give my best advice.
The one thing I wish I knew before becoming a WAG is enjoy the highs, but know that when it’s low, it’s going to be rock bottom and you’ve got to be prepared.
I wouldn’t change a thing about marrying a footballer, I’ve got two wonderful boys.
But if Maya were my daughter I’d tell her to be sure to think it through.
If she’s in love, and it’s real love, go for it but just know what you’re getting into.
I loved the life, but I always put myself second, football is always going to win in a relationship.”
