Then Came Fame (Leah Williamson)

Aria: War on Media

November 2022

Fewer things were more embarrassing than having your manager wave an NDA in front of someone you had invited in with you. I knew what Heather was thinking, that I was doing my usual charming of the pretty girl before I inevitably invited her back to my hotel room later in the day.

This wasn't about that, though. This was about going against the system. I hated it. I hated everything about the way media worked. She won silverware for her country, dedicated years of her life to training for that very moment, and yet, me with my music that was probably recorded while I was high on drugs had completely overshadowed that in the eyes of the BBC. Corruption was at the core of media, and I'd be damned if I allowed them to use another hero as an added extra in the Aria show.

I didn't know much about Leah. Of course, there were some articles floating around about her family life or her relationship history, but other than that, I only knew what I'd watched of her on the pitch and I liked that. If anyone knew the consequences of thinking you know someone because you've read a few articles, it was me.

She was much more awkward than her mother. She sat quietly in the corner of the sofa, eyes locked on her fingernails as she played with them. Her mother, Amanda, was quick to make conversation, congratulating me on my successes and admiring Heather's handbag.

I was never one for basic chat, I didn't do very well at it. I was more of a what's your biggest fear type of person, and although many had told me it wasn't a good look, I refused to let myself be changed by the industry. Well, apart from the sex, drugs and first class flights.

"What do you think of all this then? Do you think it'll make a difference?"

It made me feel a certain way that Leah assumed I was talking to anyone else in the room but her. She didn't even lift her head, it took Amanda to nudge her with her elbow and scold her for being rude for her to finally meet my eye line.

"I'm not sure, I hope so. Maybe."

Her words came out in short bursts, nerves seeping into every syllable of them like spilling a drink on a grooved wooden floor.

"I feel sorry for you."
"Aria!" Heather groaned.

There I go, my classic syndrome of saying something in the wrong way kicking in.

"What? I do. My fame was fast, but I had money on my side right away. I became rich and famous. I had people who knew how to react to the situation. You were just thrown into it, Leah, weren't you?"

Heather rolled her eyes at my bluntness and for a second I wondered if I sounded like I was bragging that I was better off than Leah, but when her eyes softened and her lips curled upwards, I knew she was realising that I wasn't putting her down at all.

"Yeah. They told us we would be in the papers and stuff, but they didn't prepare us for the gravity of it. I don't think they even expected it."

It wasn't hard to notice that Leah was the most sought after of the Lionesses. The others were renowned for their footballing ability, but she was turned into some kind of multipack of abilities overnight. Her face was impossible to escape, she was the subject of every second TikTok video I watched, the face the media outlets used when they talked about women's football, and the one everyone wanted to book for their events. And she looked exhausted.

"It doesn't get easier. You do learn to block it out a bit more, though. The noise kind of fades away and you learn to give yourself extra time to get places because you'll be delayed by fans. I can't promise you it isn't still annoying as fuck, but one day your mind just starts to see things differently and you find some kind of acceptance."