Loris Karius was so overwhelmed meeting his wife’s family for the first time that he locked himself in his room and dived onto the bed to process his emotions. 

That’s according to television presenter Diletta Leotta, who is in a pretty good position to speak about this given that she is the wife in question. 

Karius and Leotta tied the knot last year in a lavish ceremony at a five-star hotel resort and devoured a cake almost as tall as them. 

But meeting Leotta’s family from Catania, Sicily, was apparently a culture shock which left Karius ‘destroyed’ and yearning for respite because of the exuberance and noise. 

The former Liverpool goalkeeper even begs to have more alone time with Leotta when he is in Milan with her – a supplication she only occasionally shows mercy to. Her mother and tickle-mad brother are often around their skyscraper flat.  

Loris Karius’ TV presenter wife says he locked himself in his room when he met her family

Diletta Leotta says Karius asks for more time ‘alone’ because of all the ‘noise’ her family make

The duo married last year and have a baby daughter called Aria but their schedules are hectic 

‘It was fun to bring Loris to my house in Catania for the first time,’ Leotta told the Storie oltre le Stories podcast via La Gazzetta dello Sport. 

‘At a certain point during lunch – he doesn’t speak Italian, by the way – he heard all this noise.

‘He wasn’t used to this disaster, he said to me: “Please stop, I need a break!” 

‘He went upstairs to his room, locked himself in and threw himself on the bed destroyed by life.

‘My house is a mess anyway. I’ve been used to inviting people home rather than going to other people’s houses myself.

‘It’s difficult for me to have a lunch at my house where I’m alone. My mother is there, my brother who comes up who lives downstairs.

‘Loris tells me: “There are always so many of us, why are you and I never alone?” 

‘”Oh love, my life is like this!”‘

Because she lives in Milan and he plays in Germany, they don’t get as much time together as they would like

The pair got married in a lavish ceremony in the Italian volcanic island of Sicily last year

Leotta said Karius should make ‘the best decision for his career’ and move ‘close to Milan’ 

But he is reportedly close to extending his contract with Schalke for another two seasons 

To appease Karius every now and then, Leotta admits she has to ‘really concentrate and say: “this evening it’s just me and Loris.”‘

Leotta has reportedly implored Karius to come and live with her full-time but he currently plays for German second-tier side Schalke. 

He signed with them in January on a short-term deal but Bild reports that he is close to sealing an extension until 2027. 

The former Champions League finalist was almost staring down the barrel at third-division football as Schalke only avoided the relegation play-offs by three points.

Leotta struggles to see much of Karius because she works as a TV presenter for DAZN and is typically covering a Serie A match at the weekend. 

Visiting has become a complication – paticularly after one airport experience which revived ‘traumatic’ memories. 

She recently claimed that she was left feeling ’embarrassed’ after her breasts were squeezed during an invasive security check at a German airport.

Leotta alleged that she was forced to remove almost all her clothes before she was ‘tickled’ under the arms and feet – an experience she described as ‘incredible torture’.

Leotta, 33, splits her time covering Serie A for DAZN with supporting her footballer husband 

‘I had to go back to Italy, and as I was going through the metal detector, a policewoman came and wanted to check me,’ she is reported as telling Radio 105 by Bild. ‘She squeezed my breasts. I was a little embarrassed.

‘At one point, I took off almost all my clothes. I was wearing almost nothing under my arms and told her, “Look, I have nothing under my arms”.

‘But she insisted on tickling me under my arms, which was incredible torture. She also told me to take off my shoes and tickled me under my feet.

‘It was traumatic because my brother held me like that (with his arms raised) and tickled me under the armpits. He was really strong. He tickled me all over my body and I wet my pants.’

Perhaps that explains why Karius isn’t so keen to be around him.