The Meeting

For Leah

Please note, this date will only be available to ticket holders from the last show.

Once again, I would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused, I never want to hear that I have upset any of you but I would like to ask that you remember that just as you have protected your families that have lost money, I was protecting mine last week. Something I vowed to do, and will continue to do forever.

I can't wait to see you all for our biggest show yet.

Love always,
AWR and team x

Not long after the statement went out, we were bombarded with messages of support from other performers about my honest post. I knew I had taken a risk with the inhuman part but I needed to remind those that were attacking Leah. That was my true reasoning behind it, even if no one knew it. Leah was proud of me, sending me links of articles that had already been written about me being hailed a hero by the industry. I didn't care about that though, what I cared about was the outpouring of love and support that was sent towards Leah.

I think what we need to remember when we read the statement is that Leah is also someone with feelings. I think that's the real message there even if Alex hasn't stated it directly.

Alex talking about being expected to be inhuman is definitely aimed at those attacking Leah and rightfully so.

Leah Williamson lifts every trophy and one mistake sees her benched by social media. Alex RW protecting her is not surprising.

Leah Williamson must've read everything people were saying about her if Alex had to go home. Social media sucks.

This is a reminder that before you go to write negatively on the internet about someone... DONT. Imagine how worried Alex must've been about Leah to cancel her show??

Leah Williamson allowing Alex to basically admit that she had taken the trolling badly is the bravest and most courageous thing. So much time for her as both a person and a player.

I smiled as I read down through them and I hoped that Leah would be too. Maybe now she would realise that for every one person that sent her hate, another 10,000 were backing her up. What I didn't know, was that the extended set we would do would end with a viral moment in support of Leah.

As we headed to the stadium early that morning, we were greeted by fans everywhere. I stopped the bus and got off to speak to them, grateful that they had agreed to come back. I took pictures with them, signed autographs and even listened to some of them sing, letting them know I truly was sorry that they had been disappointed.

Leah had travelled over for the set, the first time she had managed to attend a gig throughout this tour. I think Gavin had purposely scheduled it for this date at the end of the tour, knowing that Leah had no matches and would be off training. Gavin was like that, he would do these things for me but didn't like to seem soft so he would pretend it was an accident. Tomorrow, Leah and I would travel home together for our IVF clinic appointment, I was originally meant to finish in America and spend two days there before returning home for an awards show but our plans changed when Gavin suggested this date.

As I headed on stage, I looked to the third box on the left hand side and could see Leah stood with some of the crew and Holly. We played our normal set, had a 15 minute interval to freshen up and drink the most disgusting mixture of ingredients to protect my voice. I headed back on stage with Gavin. He was presenting the next part of this show, which felt weird but in a good way. Each song would be announced, alongside the number of requests for it and some examples of the reasoning.

As we got to the last one, Gavin laughed slightly causing me to feel a little bit panicked. He smiled towards the box that Leah was stood in and then looked back to me.

"Are you ready to cry?" He said, laughing.
"Oh god, what is it? Is it one of my really old ones?" I replied back, speaking through the microphone so they could hear me.
"It's not your song but I know you know every word." He said back, still withholding the song name.
"Okay, tell me?" I said, rolling my eyes to the crowd causing them to laugh.
"So. Miranda would like to hear you sing You're Still The One. Her reason is that he thinks it might cheer Leah up and she is her biggest fan. She adds that the abuse Leah was suffering was not okay and -" Gavin began before he could no longer be heard over cheers, applauding and chants of Leah throughout the stadium.

"I was about to refuse guys but if that's how loud you are cheering I can only imagine how loud you'll be booing. We'll give it a go but no one tell Shania on me if it's awful." I laughed, worried that my version wouldn't live up to the one they had watched Teddy sing in the snippets of our wedding we had released on social media.

And just like that, the night before my IVF appointment with Leah, I was stood on stage singing our first dance song. The echoes of the audience singing it back to me and the idea that Leah was here to witness this was creating a lump in the back of my throat that made it hard to sing through but I knew I had to finish this song. I had to show Leah that even my fans were her fans. People did care how she was.

As we prepared for our trip home, Leah turned her phone to me and showed me a news article that her mum had sent to her.

Watch the viral moment Alex Ryan-Williamson sang her first dance song to the audience after it was requested by a fan.

I smiled and pulled her towards me, nestling my head into her chest.

"I love you, Le." I whispered.
"I love you so much too, Alex." She softly said back.
"Guess what, Le?" I smiled up at her.
"What?" She kissed the tip of my nose.
"It's today in 37 minutes." I said, squeezing my arms tightly around her.
"I cannot wait to start a family with you." Leah said, unable to stop the smile forming on her face.