Riyad Mahrez’s wife Taylor Ward reveals what living in Saudi Arabia is REALLY like after tearful reaction to the shock move… as she opens up on the ’emotional rollercoaster’ of leaving Manchester
- Taylor Ward spoke out on ‘overwhelming’ information she was shifting to Middle East
- The wife of soccer star Riyad Mahrez stated she went on ’emotional rollercoaster’
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Riyad Mahrez’s transfer to Saudi Arabia final summer season was a giant shock for soccer followers however no-one was surprised greater than his wife, mannequin and influencer Taylor Ward.
The 26-year-old, who is the daughter of Real House of Cheshire star Dawn and former Premier League participant Ashley, went viral after a clip for her new documentary confirmed Mahrez’s blunt reaction to her shock when discovering out she was set to transfer to Saudi Pro League membership Al-Ahli.
Ward stated she was ‘overwhelmed’ when Mahrez knowledgeable her they’d be leaving Man City and shifting to Jeddah at quick discover, with the winger telling her: ‘It’s half of the sport, innit,’ after she had expressed concern that she can be ‘sat at dwelling on my very own’.
That second will probably be documented in the upcoming Prime Video present Married to the Game, which is additionally set to element the couple’s transfer to Saudi and present how they’ve since settled into the nation. Other wives and girlfriends of footballers will exhibit their very own existence in subsequent episodes.
Ward admitted Mahrez’s response to her ‘nonetheless haunts me’, however stated the Algerian participant was ‘straight-talking’ and ‘to the level’ as she opened up on the ’emotional rollercoaster’ whereas talking to Mail Sport.
‘That line haunts me,’ she stated, as she defined {that a} clip of her crying was after a sitdown along with her sister later on.
‘I hold seeing it on social media. That entire week was simply an emotional rollercoaster actually. It was an enormous shock and I had completely no concept. One day we had been planning for Riyad to return to pre-season with City after which in a single day we had been shifting to Saudi and I used to be planning this entire transfer.
‘I believe it was simply very overwhelming at the time and a large shock as a result of I simply did not see it coming in any respect. That scene with Riyad – that is simply him to a tee. He is simply straight speaking and to the level. He is very a lot simply like, “it is what it is, you’ve got to get over it now”, whereas I’m extra emotional. That’s why we work as a result of I’m a bit of a flapper in these conditions and he is very on the ball and simply will get on with it.’
Ward spoke of how the pair had been on vacation when Mahrez obtained the provide earlier than he jetted dwelling to say his goodbyes to his Manchester City team-mates – and the wheels began turning rapidly. The fast-nature of the transfer left her with little time to course of issues, and even say her personal goodbyes to folks at the Etihad.
‘We had been really on vacation at the time and there was discuss the transfer,’ stated Ward.
‘Riyad had just a few years left on his contract at City and was actually settled there. Every dialog was “we’re not going to move yet, it’s something we’ll consider in a few years”. I began listening to folks from Saudi exhibiting curiosity however by no means thought something would come of it.
‘He flew dwelling two days early to begin pre-season so as far as I used to be involved he was going again to Man City and that was it. One day he rang me whereas I used to be sat on the seaside and stated “we’re moving and I’m going tomorrow, that’s it”.
‘He put me on the telephone to one of the ladies at the membership and I burst into tears – I used to be like “I can’t believe this is happening”. It occurred so fast, you aren’t getting a minute to say bye to everybody. One minute he was beginning pre-season, the subsequent he was saying goodbye.’
Married to the Game will present how the Mahrez household – together with their 18-month-old daughter Mila – have settled into Jeddah, although Ward revealed she has up to now been travelling forwards and backwards from Manchester as she wraps up preparations to completely transfer into their dwelling.
Much has been made of restrictions in Saudi Arabia. The household of former Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson lived in the extra industrial Bahrain throughout his ill-fated six-month spell, although they nonetheless struggled to settle earlier than he sealed a transfer to Ajax in the Netherlands.
Mail Sport reported how the wife one one participant who had joined a Saudi membership final summer season was being hissed at in a procuring centre for carrying shorts.
Meanwhile, searing temperatures of 30 levels and paltry crowds at stadiums have additionally lessened the urge for food for stars becoming a member of the Saudi revolution in a rustic that is set to host the 2030 World Cup.
However, Ward insists she has been ‘stunned’ by life in the Middle East, having been made to really feel somewhat bit nearer to dwelling after discovering solace in just a few creature comforts – together with recognizing an unlikely Nando’s chain.
‘So far, the expertise has been wonderful,’ she added. ‘There’s clearly no alcohol so I will not be having a glass of wine! To be sincere, there’s extra there than I initially thought. When I went on my first journey, I noticed a Nando’s. I used to be simply like “I’m so happy they’ve got Nando’s”.
‘The vibe is simply very completely different. It’s much more chilled on the market, it is quieter and calmer, whereas in Manchester life is so busy – there’s a lot going on and we’re at all times going out for dinner and seeing associates. That’s most likely what I’m lacking the most, seeing household and associates relatively than what the nation is lacking.
‘The folks have been so beautiful – I believe that was really a large shock, how good everybody has been. You cannot evaluate it to the UK – it is nothing like right here. I’m having fun with it up to now, it simply feels like I’m on vacation, I do not really feel like I’ve moved there but.’
The restriction that can not be escaped is the apparent segregations on gender, such as these seen in swimming swimming pools and lodges, some of which solely enable {couples} to keep collectively if they’re married.
But Ward claimed guidelines are being relaxed all the time, including: ‘I believe it relies upon on the place you go. At the second they’re enjoyable these guidelines. From what I had heard, I used to be frightened about that stuff after we first went, but it surely’s stunned me. It’s extra relaxed from what I used to be first instructed.’
When put to her about Henderson’s household living in the neighbouring Bahrain, she reiterated that she was joyful in Jeddah and deliberate to be there for the foreseeable future.
‘I’m not simply saying this, I really actually like it,’ she stated. ‘I am unable to fault it up to now, we have actually loved it. We’ve simply received our home right here so I’ll undoubtedly be staying in Jeddah and will not be going anyplace else.
‘It’s received lovely seashores, outlets, eating places. I do not suppose there can be any want to transfer anyplace else. I’ll be in Jeddah for the forseeable that is for certain.’
The sequence will discover different {couples} and their journeys to different locations to observe the goals of soccer stars, such as Sarah Gundogan travelling with husband Ilkay – a former City team-mate of Mahrez – this time going from Manchester to the extra liberal Barcelona.
So, would Ward fancy going to some other vacation spot of her alternative if the energy had been in her arms?
She has maintained that wherever Mahrez goes, she goes – a vow that was made very early on in their relationship as soon as issues turned severe, respecting that the participant himself has a brief profession and desires to make the most of it.
‘We at all times agreed from the starting that with soccer issues change and wherever he went I’d go together with him,’ she stated.
‘I’m very lucky that with my job I can simply journey and I haven’t got something holding me again in that sense. It was at all times one thing that I agreed to and stated “listen, I want us to stick together as a family”. Football careers are so quick and you’ve got to make the most of it.
‘It was nonetheless a large shock and when that day comes you possibly can’t put together for it. Riyad will at all times do what’s greatest for the household. If it was someplace actually stunning, he would not agree to go in the first place. I belief him.’
As for her family and friends – that has been one of the largest wrenches of this transfer for Ward. She stated they had been ‘devastated’ and that not having them round was the hardest half, though a sweetener in the transfer is having her dad and mom living in Dubai, only a two-hour flight away.
‘Everyone’s been actually supportive,’ Ward stated. ‘Obviously it was a shock at the starting. My grandparents nonetheless stay in the UK they usually had been devastated that I used to be leaving. It’s solely a five-and-a-half hour flight if they need to see me. We’ll simply do journeys there and again and household will come see me.
‘My mum and pa stay in Dubai which is a two-hour flight away. They have been to Saudi six or seven occasions already – always turning up to come and see me which is good.’
There have already been murmurs of discontent from a handful of star names who’ve lately moved to the Saudi Pro League.
In addition to Henderson being unsettled, former Liverpool man Roberto Firmino was reportedly eyeing a return to the Premier League, whereas ex-Real Madrid foward Karim Benzema fell out together with his supervisor at Al-Ittihad, with rumours he was in search of an exit.
But the similar can’t be stated for Mahrez, who Ward says is loving life at Al-Ahli and has no plans to return to the Premier League or transfer anyplace else for the meantime.
‘Football is so unpredictable, when that switch window opens you haven’t any concept what’s going to occur,’ she went on. ‘For now, the plan is to keep in Saudi for just a few years and luxuriate in it. I put a lot effort into making this home good so I would like to stay in it for a bit and luxuriate in settling down.
‘We’ll see, who is aware of – proper now he is actually having fun with it. He loves his membership and he is met some good associates, just a few different French guys on the group who he will get on rather well with.’
Ward has finished a bit of that settling in herself by assembly up with fellow wives and girlfriends of Mahrez’s team-mates at Al-Ahli, many of whom are ‘in the similar boat’ exploring and discovering a brand new nation in unfamiliar environment.
She is hoping now that followers and viewers will see a distinct facet to her and never simply the ‘glamorous facet’ that everybody sees on social media, insisting her life is ‘not all roses and rainbows’.
‘Lots of folks see photos on Instagram of our lives and suppose the whole lot is so excellent and glamorous, however they do not see what we’re like as folks and what goes on behind the scenes,’ Ward stated.
‘I hope it provides folks a greater perception into that and lets folks get to know us higher in that sense, and see that it isn’t all roses and rainbows.
‘We’re not these excellent those who lead these wonderful, glamorous lives – we’re really very regular as effectively. I hope they get to see a bit of each.’
