Meet the Soccer Aid WAGs: From influencers Molly Mae and Zara McDermott to chart topper Talia Mar

Meet the Soccer Aid WAGs: From influencers Molly Mae and Zara McDermott to chart topper Talia Mar Charity football event Soccer Air takes place on Sunday at Stamford Bridge READ MORE: Soccer Aid announce England squad for charity clash at Stamford Bridge… with Frank Lampard among the coaching staff, and four ex-Chelsea players among the returning stars By Maria Chiorando Published: 16:10 BST, 8 June 2024 | Updated: 16:10 BST, 8 June 2024 e-mail View comments This year’s Soccer Aid clash takes place in London tomorrow, where a mix of former pro footballers and celebrities representing two teams – England and the World – will take on each other in a televised event at Stamford Bridge to raise money for Unicef. And of course, as with any football tournament, many eyes will be on the squad’s WAGS – the glamorous wives and girlfriends of the players. With the celebrities on England’s team including Made In Chelsea’s Sam Thompson and YouTuber Simon Minter, their respective partners Zara McDermott and Talia Mar will be no doubt cheering them on. Among the former footballers on the squad is Joe Cole, whose fitness trainer and model wife Carly Cole, is no stranger to being WAG after shooting to fame during the 2006 World Cup in Germany. Meanwhile, playing on the World XI is boxer Tommy Fury, making his influencer fiancee Molly-Mae another of the familiar faces among the event’s WAGs. Here, FEMAIL looks at some of the Soccer Aid WAGS who will be supporting their partners on Sunday… MOLLY-MAE Molly-Mae is the girlfriend of boxer Tommy Fury. She is an influencer and mother-of-one, sharing 16-month-old daughter Bambi with Tommy Influencer Molly-Mae (pictured, right) with her boxer fiance Tommy Fury (pictured, left), who has been named in the provisional World XI squad Among the most recognisable of the Soccer Aid WAGS is influencer Molly-Mae, 25, the fiancee of boxer Tommy Fury, who has been named in the provision World XI squad. Molly-Mae, who was raised in Hertfordshire, is the daughter of two police officers. However, rather than follow in her parents’ footsteps when it comes to her career, she has forged her own path as an influencer. The couple met when they both appeared in the 2019 series of reality TV programme Love Island. After the show put her under the spotlight, Molly-Mae took up a £5 million a year role working as the creative director for fashion brand Pretty Little Thing. Mother-of-one Molly Mae, who shares 16-month-old daughter Bambi with Tommy, 25, stepped down from the role last year in order to spend more time with her daughter, however, she told fans she plans to still work with the brand on various collections and edits. She recently revealed she is now a brand ambassador for Marks & Spencer, sharing a post on Instagram that showed her cooking a Sunday roast in the Cheshire mansion she lives in with Tommy and Bambi. Earlier this year, the couple were forced to quash split rumours, after she failed to wish Tommy a happy birthday on social media. However, while the two are still together, Tommy told Closer magazine that they are in no rush to tie the knot. He shared: ‘We’re not putting pressure on it. We’re enjoying being engaged and enjoying that period of our life, so we’re in no rush.’ ZARA MCDERMOTT Model and reality TV star Zara McDermott is the girlfriend of Made in Chelsea star Sam Thompson, who is one of the celebrities on the England squad The couple, who once had a brief split, have shared some of the ups and downs of their relationship on Made in Chelsea Former Love Islander Zara McDermott, who now works as a model, influencer, and documentary maker and presenter, met her boyfriend Sam Thompson after private messaging him on Instagram. England’s full squad Former Chelsea player Frank Lampard will coach the England team, alongside Arsenal great David Seaman, and manager Harry Redknapp. Celebrities on the coaching staff include singer Robbie Williams and actor Vicky McClure. The England legends include four former Chelsea faces – Joe Cole, Gary Cahill, Ellen White and Karen Carney. They will be joined by goalkeeper David James, Jermain Defoe, Jill Scott, Theo Walcott and Jack Wilshere. Meanwhile, 13 celebrity players have been revealed, including Simon Minter from the Sidemen, entrepreneur Steven Bartlett, TV personality Sam Thompson, ‘The Last Leg’ presenter Alex Brooker, boxing promoter Eddie Hearn and singer Tom Grennan. Stuart Broad, Sam Quek and Mo Farah swap disciplines to football, having previously been elite athletes in cricket, hockey and long-distance running respectively. Advertisement The 27-year-old used to work for the Department for Education as a policy advisor, before appearing on the fourth series of Love Island in 2018. She subsequently appeared on The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019. Zara also made appearances on Made in Chelsea, the show that made her boyfriend Sam famous, between 2019 and 2020. Zara, who was born in Havering, started dating Sam Thompson, who has been named as a player in England’s Soccer Aid squad, in May 2019. While at secondary school, nudes of Zara were leaked by a boyfriend: the pictures were leaked again while she was appearing on Love Island. As a result, she fronted a BBC documentary called McDermott: Revenge Porn for the BBC in February, 2021. She has said she wants to create on making documentaries, rather than just appearing on reality television. That November, she appeared in a follow-up documentary Zara McDermott: Uncovering Rape Culture, in which she opened up about her own experiences of nearly being assaulted. She fronted the Zara McDermott: Disordered Eating in November 2022, which again, drew on experiences from her own life. This was followed by Gaia: A Death on Dancing Ledge. Based on the disappearance and death of teenager Gaia Pope-Sutherland, the documentary was aired in July 2023. So far, this year she has presented The Idaho Murders: Trial by TikTok for the BBC. She is set to front a four-part documentary series for the BBC titled Ibiza: Secrets of the Party Island this year. TALIA MAR Talia Mar, who married YouTuber Simon Minter last year, is a singer-songwriter and online personality Talia Mar (whose full name is Natalia Margaret Louise Minter) got engaged to Simon Minter (pictured) in June 2022 Singer, songwriter, and internet personality Natalia Margaret Louise Minter, is better known as Talia Mar. WORLD XI SQUAD According to the provisional World XI line-up, playing alongside Tommy Fury will be sprinter Usain Bolt captaining the side, which includes Maisie Adam, Livi Sheldon, Martin Compston, Roman Kemp, Lee Mack and Theo Baker. Also named on the squad are Jason Manford, Tony Bellew, Tion Wayne, Micheal Ward, Emmett J. Scanlan, Petr Čech, Roberto Carlos, Patrice Evra, Michael Essien, Mikel John Obi, Kaylyn Kyle, Kheira Hamraoui, Eden Hazard, Alessandro Del Piero and Olga García. Advertisement The 27-year-old is the wife of YouTube personality Simon Minter. Also known as Miniminter, Simon is one of the celebrities named as a player in Soccer Aid’s England squad. Talia and Simon got together in 2017 and made their relationship public. In June 2022, the couple announced they had got engaged. They tied the knot in 2023. Talia Mar has an impressive list of varied professional accomplishments to her name. Among them, the musician collaborated with Sigala to release the song Stay the Night. Her most successful musical offering so far, the track reached number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. In addition to her career in music, Talia collaborated with OFRA Cosmetics in 2019. That year, she released two highlighters and a skincare line, called OFRA x Talia Mar. The year before, she launched her online clothing retailer The Martian Club. In December of that year, she also joined the panellists of the British television series, All Together Now, alongside Geri Halliwell. Talia is currently still releasing music. This year, she toured with Caity Baser on her Still Learning Tour across the UK. CARLY COLE Model and fitness trainer Carly Cole (pictured) is one of the original WAGS, and is married to former England player Joe Cole Carly and Joe Cole are pictured returning to the UK after the England team was knocked out of the FIFA World Cup 2006 in Germany Carly Cole, 40, is no stranger to being called a WAG – she shot to fame in 2006, as the partner of England player Joe Cole. That year, then-England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson allowed the wives and girlfriends of the players to travel to Germany for the World Cup. Since then, fitness trainer Carly, who grew up in east London’s Leytonstone, has gone on to model for various magazines. She also appeared in the 2008 series of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me out of Here!, becoming the third person to be voted out of the jungle. In 2009, Carly and Joe Cole tied the knot in Chelsea. They became parents the next year, with their first child – a daughter – being born in March 2010. Two further children followed in October 2012 and October 2015. She is now involved in charity work, after founding the 11 Foundation, which works with charities on community projects with her husband. Among its initiatives, the 11 Foundation supported the opening of a garden at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham during the Covid pandemic in 2020. CHRISTINE LAMPARD Former Chelsea and England player, and now manager, Frank Lampard (pictured, left) attends the Sport Gives Back Awards 2024 in London with his wife Christine Lampard Widely considered to be one of Chelsea’s greats, former England player Frank Lampard, who is now a football manager (most recently acting as caretaker manager for his old club) is managing the England team at Soccer Aid. He and wife Christine, both 45, met in 2009 at the Pride of Britain awards. They tied the knot in December 2015, then went on to have a baby girl in 2018, followed by a son in 2021. As well as sharing two children, Christine, who hails from Northern Ireland, is also stepmother to Frank’s two daughters from his previous relationship with Elen Rives. Christine, who has been presenting ITV panel show Loose Women since 2016, has a long list of television broadcasting credits. Among them, she has presented Dancing on Ice, and has been a stand-in presenter on Lorraine and This Morning. She started her TV career while she was studying for her A-levels, first working as a runner, then training to become a floor manager. Christine continued working for BBC Northern Ireland (NI) while studying for a degree in politics at Queen’s University in Belfast, eventually ditching her degree to work full time in television. Among her early hosting jobs with BBC NI was a programme called Sky High in 2004. During the show, she flew around Northern Ireland in a helicopter. This was followed by cookery show Spill the Beans in 2005. In 2007, Christine became co-host of The One Show, which she presented with Adrian Chiles for several years. She has discussed her relationship with Frank publicly, revealing during an interview with Closer magazine that she once cut a close friend out of her life after they got too ‘flirty’ with her husband. Speaking about how she and Frank met, Christine previously told the Mirror that it was a ‘complete Sliding Doors moment’. She explained: ‘I still remember the first meeting as clear as day. Who goes to an awards ceremony and finds a husband? That was me! ‘Neither of us were even meant to go and I was late after hosting The One Show. So when we are there now we do have a celebratory glass of champagne. It’s a special evening for us.’ LUCY DYKE Lucy Dyke (pictured, left) and her husband Jason Manford (pictured, right) attend the UK premiere of the Netflix series Eric in London on May 20 this year Comedian and presenter Jason Manford, known for his role as team captain on the comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats among other performances, was named on the provisional World XI squad. Cheering him on will be his wife Lucy Dyke with whom he tied the knot in 2017. The couple share two children, who they keep out of the spotlight. The couple wed after Jason, 42, split from his first wife Catherine, with whom he shares four children, in 2013. While Lucy is not as instantly recognisable as some of the other WAGs, she has enjoyed major success in her career behind the scenes in film and television, as a producer and executive producer. Lucy, who wed Jason in a romantic Christmas wedding in Manchester, followed by a reception at a curry house, has numerous credits to her name. Among her work, she is listed as a producer on hits like Black Mirror, Passenger, and Eric. As the executive producer for award-winning content studio SISTER, she was also part of the team behind the BBC One drama Better. GEMMA ACTON Gemma Acton (pictured, right) is seen with her now-husband footballer Gary Cahill at the 2018 World Cup One of the more private WAGs is Gemma Acton, 38, who has been married to former England and Chelsea player Gary Cahill, 38, since 2013. Gary, who is another of the former professionals on England’s Soccer Aid team, met his now-wife when they were at school in Dronfield, Derbyshire. The couple share two children – a daughter called Freya and son called Leo. Little else is known about Gemma, who is not one of the WAGs who courts the limelight, and doesn’t have any open social media accounts. Few pictures exist of the couple, as Gemma stays out of the public spotlight. However, her husband has shared a few images of the couple on his Instagram account. The couple, who tied the knot at Brookfield Manor, Hathersage, invited their wedding guests to make a donation to the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice in Sheffield, which offers care and support to children who have a shortened life expectancy. ALISHA LEMAY Jermain Defoe and his on-off girlfriend Alisha LeMay attend the Pride of Britain Awards in London in October 2023 Former England striker Jermain Defoe, who also played for Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham, is one of the ex-professionals on the England squad. As recently as this May, the 41-year-old was spotted out and about with his girlfriend Alisha LeMay, with whom he has had a tempestuous relationship. The couple, who reportedly got together around the end of 2022, or the beginning of 2023, were rocked by a cheating scandal, after he was spotted kissing another woman just weeks after they made their public debut as a couple in October 2023. However, Alisha LeMay, who is a fashion and beauty influencer and model, decided to give the athlete another chance. Alisha, who has over 172,000 Instagram followers, is known for creating both high-end and affordable looks, which she shares with her fans. She has partnered with a number of brands, including ASOS, Primark, Sports Direct, Boohoo, Boots and Jet2. The influencer, who says in her Instagram bio that she is based in London and Hertfordshire, also created her own edit with Miss Pap. Soccer AidChristine LampardJason Manford Share or comment on this article: Meet the Soccer Aid WAGs: From influencers Molly Mae and Zara McDermott to chart topper Talia Mar e-mail Add comment