Alisha Lehmann reveals she 'didn't go outside & slept all day' as a result of growing online 'hate'

Lehmann was a guest on Chelsea captain Millie Bright and former Aston Villa team-mate Rachel Daly’s podcast, Daly Brightness, where she opened up and spoke about how she struggled to deal with fame early in her career. She explained how she felt increasingly judged and scrutinised by a growing Instagram following which were critical of any photos showcasing her life outside of football.

The 27-year-old continued to say that she never intended to grow her Instagram account, which now has almost 16 million followers, to become famous or an influencer, but was just following what other footballers were doing. This meant that this ‘online hate’ became difficult to deal with as Lehmann was not expecting to become such a prominent figure on social media and in football more generally.

The midfielder said that she felt ‘really sad’ and this made her unwilling and unable to leave the house. Lehmann believes that she could not live her life without fear of judgement, with many using her life outside of football as a critique of her career with the likes of West Ham, Everton, Villa and Juventus.

On the podcast, Lehmann explained: “I didn't do it at the start because I wanted to be famous or anything. I never dreamed of that. It was never a thing I was like you know praying every day for. It just happened and after obviously when I got like more followers and followers, I got also more hate and then I had a time that was really sad. I probably didn't go outside anymore. I just slept all day.”

She continued to explain that now, people are “so much nicer” to her than when she was in her early 20s. “When I was posting before when I was like 20, 21, 22 everyone was judging me. Everyone was like you are not a football player, you only post on social media and stuff and everyone's judging me so much.”

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Lehmann has managed to transform her online following from one which she felt judged her, to one which admires her. She told Bright and Daly that she is often approached and asked how how to build a company and grow a following.

The Leicester player now feels that everyone uses their Instagram in the same way she does. “Now everyone does the same. I just did it when I was younger because every normal person did the same but because obviously, I was a football player it was it was wrong they think. But, at the end, now every player, men and women, does the same.“

Lehmann returned to the Women’s Super League last month when she joined the Foxes in the lower reaches of the division. She joins hoping to add an extra push to move away from the relegation spot currently occupies by Liverpool, who have seven points from 14 games.

Leicester are just two points ahead of Liverpool and one clear of West Ham below them and could find themselves rooted to the bottom of the table should the Reds and the Hammers win their games on Sunday.

Lehmann brings a huge wealth of experience to the side from the Midlands and was a league winner with Juventus last season. The Swiss star moved to Como in the summer but struggled to make an impact. At the Foxes, Lehmann is almost halfway to matching her game time accrued for Como this season where she made just six appearances and played a total of 281 minutes.