In a swift and unexpected turn, Taylor Ward found herself distanced from the glamorous circles of English football. Her life changed dramatically when her husband, Riyad Mahrez, informed her of his transfer from Manchester City to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia, a country known for its restrictive stance on women’s freedoms. The news left her in tears. Mahrez’s justification was succinct: “It’s part of the game, innit.”

The allure of being married to a professional footballer includes wealth, status, and unique opportunities. However, this lifestyle also carries significant challenges, marked by compromise, instability, and occasional loneliness.

Leigh-Anne Pinnock, formerly of Little Mix, shares a similar experience. Her husband, footballer Andre Gray, has had a nomadic career over the past four years, playing in Greece, Saudi Arabia, Plymouth, and, most recently, Turkey. Despite his travels, Pinnock has stayed in the UK to focus on her music career, resulting in the couple meeting only about three times a month during good months.

Now married with twin daughters, Pinnock and Gray have managed to keep their relationship intact, even after facing early hurdles, including an incident that left her feeling “heartbroken” by what she describes as a “betrayal.”

Speaking with Paloma Faith on the Mad Sad Bad podcast, Pinnock opened up about the difficulties, saying, “I went through a bit of a weird time with my husband actually, and I think that sort of not being totally honest and losing trust and that kind of betrayal.”

Taylor Ward, Riyad Mahrez’s wife, broke down in tears over their move to Saudi Arabia 

Former Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock says her footballer husband Andre Gray ‘betrayed’ her but she has forgiven him 

Another Little Mixer, Perrie Edwards, said in 2024 that she had never lived with long-time partner Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – despite them having a child together  

She told Paloma Faith on her Mad Sad Bad podcast: ‘I went through a bit of a weird time with my husband actually and I think that sort of not being totally honest and losing trust and that kind of betrayal.’

Gray admitted he had been ‘selfish’ with his actions and went to therapy to try and improve and that was enough for Pinnock to stay with him. 

Even couples with a less publicly strained relationship find it tough. Another Little Mixer, Perrie Edwards, apparently once tried to dump Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain when she was due to go on tour. 

When he moved to Turkey to play for Besiktas, she stayed behind to look after their son Axel. ‘I can’t lie, it is hard,’ Edwards admitted. ‘When he was playing for Liverpool and based in Manchester, it was so easy to do the back and forth but Turkey is a little bit further and he doesn’t get a lot of time off.

‘We’ve never lived together anyway – the whole eight years we’ve been in a relationship we’ve never actually lived together.’ 

‘I’m trying to launch a solo career whilst having a two year old so it is a lot to juggle but we make it work for the ones we love don’t we?’

It’s a story which is so often repeated. Footballers’ stints at clubs can be so short that many wives and girlfriends don’t deem it worth moving. 

But you do get ones who move. Spare a thought for the ever-doting Kim Holloway, wife of Swindon Town manager Ian; they’ve moved at least 48 times, according to him. 

Jordan Henderson earned £350,000 per week in Saudi Arabia – but he and his wife Rebecca had to live over the border in Bahrain to make things work 

Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway and his wife Kim have moved house at least 48 times

When Jordan Henderson transferred to Saudi Arabia for his short-lived stint at Al-Ettifaq in 2023, his family went with him but they lived over the border in the more liberal island nation of Bahrain.

Daily Mail Sport’s Mike Keegan went to investigate their life out there and discovered some shocking details. 

He spoke to one English player out there who said his partner had been hissed at by women in shopping malls just for wearing shorts while on a visit. She didn’t stay in the country for long. 

Meanwhile, Mahrez’s wife Taylor Ward has had a mixed time out in Saudi. In one scene in the Amazon Prime documentary Married to the Game, she moans: ”No lashes, no nails, I’m going to be the biggest tramp when I come home.’

Throughout the series, Ward opens up about not wanting to move to Saudi Arabia – including how challenging it was to find a house and her shock over woman not being allowed in the hotel pool – even though she doesn’t like swimming or getting her hair wet. 

Ward later reveals that Mahrez is living in a hotel because they haven’t found a new home. ‘He didn’t want us to go out there when we’re in a really small hotel room – it’s too hot at the moment to go outside,’ she says.

‘And obviously we don’t really know the area. So I’m just going to go back and forth for a bit until we’ve got somewhere stable to move.

‘I don’t think people understand the stress of it. I think it’s a lot easier for the boys than it is for us. They move to Saudi, they move into a football club, they’ve got friends.

Taylor Ward is a social media sensation with three million followers on her Instagram account

Ward admitted to having a reality check about life in Saudi Arabia when she called a hotel to ask what she and the couple’s 18-month-old daughter, Mila, could wear at a swimming pool

She admitted ‘freaking out’ after being told that the hotel swimming pool was ‘men only’

‘For me for example you literally have to start all over again in a different country or place where you don’t know anyone and it’s not always easy just to make friends and adapt.’

She cuts a lonely figure as she watches her husband in action, a far cry from her experiences at the Etihad.

‘At Man City we had a box, Riyad always brought a few friends and I’d bring my friends as well, course the kids and whoever else,’ she says. ‘My family, whenever they were home they used to come.

‘I better get used to this because I have no mates. All my friends are my primary school friends and high school friends. I’ve not really had to make new friends since then, which is crazy. It’s a crazy thought that I’m going to have to start trying to make new friends.’

The British model was in the midst of preparing for her wedding with Mahrez in England when she found out about the move to the Middle East. That caused a change of plans as she revealed how she wanted to lay on a separate party to celebrate his happy memories in England.

While prepping for Mahrez’s leaving party she admits to having a ‘freak out’ after the hotel in Saudi Arabia told her that only men could use the swimming pool.

She explains: ‘I had a bit of a meltdown. It kinda just hit me. I know it’s stupid I don’t even like swimming, I don’t like getting my hair wet.

‘I’m not even bothered about swimming, it’s just the reality check, you’re not moving to Spain or somewhere – it’s a very different way of living. I didn’t even realise when Riyadh first told me that you couldn’t drink over there.’

Perrie Edwards said: ‘We’ve never lived together anyway – the whole eight years’

Pinnock said: ‘I went through a bit of a weird time with my husband and I think that sort of not being totally honest and losing trust and that kind of betrayal. I think like heartbreak is wild’

Former Liverpool star Jonjo Shelvey’s relationship with his wife and kids suffered after he moved to Turkey on his own and took sleeping pills to pass the time  

One tragic tale involves Jonjo Shelvey, the former England and Liverpool star. In 2023 he joined Caykur Rizespor, a club in the cloistered coastal town of Rize in Turkey.

The midfielder left behind his wife, the former S Club Seven Juniors star Daisy Evans, with whom he has three kids. There, alone and with little to do, his daily habits deteriorated and damaged his bond with his wife and three kids. 

‘I went to Turkey for 18 months and lived by myself and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,’ he told the Under The Cosh podcast.

‘I ended up becoming addicted to sleeping tablets because I’d just got home from training and to pass time. I’d think, “what am I going to do now?”

‘I was in a city that was a Muslim-orientated city. There were like three restaurants [stretching the truth, a bit]. To pass time I’d just end up taking three or four sleeping tablets and I’d pass out until the next morning for training.

‘Then I moved to Istanbul [to play for Eyupspor]. Istanbul was a bit more vibrant city. You could go out and… But I was there by myself again. So I’m not one to go out by myself. I hate being alone.

‘I thought instead of drinking I’d carry on with the sleeping tablets. So that would be a way of passing my time. I’d get home at one, half one. Three o’clock I’d have a bit of food, and that’d be my last meal. And then I’d take three or four sleeping tablets and then wake up about 12 o’clock at night, pop three or four more.

‘And then wake up for training the next day. To be honest, it destroyed my relationship with my kids. I was never present. This is the first time I have spoken about it and I was lucky that my missus is such a good woman that she kicked it out of me.’

Shelvey now plays for Arabian Falcons in the United Arab Emirates Second Division.