Jack Grealish’s model girlfriend says she received 200 death threats a day during Euro 2020

22

View
comments

The glamorous girlfriend of Premier League football star Jack Grealish says she received ‘200 death threats a day’ while the England ace was playing in Euro 2020.

Sasha Attwood, 25, says she was targeted by sick internet trolls who sent her messages like ‘I hope you get cancer and die’ and ‘I hope you die in a car crash’ during this summer’s tournament.

The professional model has known the 25-year-old Aston Villa star since their school days in Solihull, West Midlands – where Jack grew-up while playing for his boyhood club. 

The pair are said to have rekindled their romance in June. However Sasha has not publicly posted about their relationship on her open Instagram page – on which she has more than 52,000 followers.

Despite this, she says she was bombarded by abuse from online trolls during the Euros – as she cheered on Jack and the Three Lions on their journey to the final.

Speaking on her YouTube channel about the shocking abuse she received, she said: ‘I was receiving 200 death threats a day. I’m not exaggerating when I say that.

‘I had so many messages every single day. I still get them now, all day every day.’ 

Sasha said she was targeted via both TikTok and Instagram – the latter of which came under fire in July after England stars Bukayo Saka, Marcus Rashford and Jadon Sancho were targeted by racist trolls.

She said: ‘Things have obviously blown up over the Euros, but I never thought in a million years it would ever be this bad.

‘It just kind of blows my mind how nasty people can be for no reason whatsoever.

‘I’ve always been quite a strong person, I’ve always been very good at blocking out people’s opinions. But it’s on a whole other level.’

She added: ‘It’s just crazy. It’s the nasty messages about my appearance, people’s opinions. What are you all doing? It’s embarrassing.

‘You hear people talking about trolling, but I never realised how bad it actually was. The scary thing is, it’s young girls.

‘I’d go on these girls’ accounts who have sent me stuff and they’re 13 or 14. It’s so sad. I try to put it down to age but then I think when I was that age I never sent a message like that.

‘I think it’s so toxic, social media, and it’s really sad these generations have grown up thinking that it’s OK to say things like that.

‘Why are you doing it? Please ask yourself why.

‘If you’re one of those people who goes out of your way to make a fake account or to send a horrible ­message, wishing someone was dead or talking about their appearance, or talking about their personal life, why, what are you getting out of it?’

Sasha said the messages were ‘horrible’ and left her feeling ‘so anxious’, adding: ‘I didn’t ask for any of that, didn’t ask for anything to be put out there, but it’s out there, isn’t it, and I’m just going to continue to carry on as normal.’

Though Sasha and Jack had initially managed to keep their relationship under-wraps, rumours began to circulate about a possible romance after she was spotted supporting him during England’s Euro 2020 games at Wembley.

Jack has reportedly been keen to keep Sasha out of the spotlight. But a source last week described Sasha as Jack’s ‘secret weapon off the pitch’ and that she ‘keeps him grounded’. 

Last night the Sun said Instagram had launched an investigation into Sasha’s comments. 

A spokeswoman told the paper: ‘No one should have to experience abuse or harassment, and we don’t want it on Instagram.

‘We encourage people to turn on Hidden Words, a tool which means that no one has to see abuse in their comments or DMs.

‘We also strongly recommend that people report behaviour like this to the police, so we can support them in their investigations.’

TikTok confirmed they had removed comments – after they were highlighted by The Sun – and added that their community guidelines make clear this behaviour is ‘not acceptable’. 

MailOnline has contacted Facebook – the owners of Instagram – and TikTok for a comment.   

Sasha’s video, which has been viewed more than 33,000 times, was posted on Sunday night.

The video received a wave of supportive comments, including from one YouTube user, who posted: ‘I am so sorry to hear about the hate I am honestly embarrassed about how people my age have been hating on you, you’re literally gorgeous like I wanna look like you.

‘Who cares who your boyfriend is, it doesn’t warrant hate. You, do you. You’re stunning, keep doing what you’re doing. 

‘Everyone else can do one, no ones opinions matter, but yours and people who send death threats are just jealous of you.’ 

Sasha, who goes by the YouTube name Sasha Rebecca, later posted a response to the comments, saying: ‘Thank you so much for all your kind comments it really means a lot.’

The video was posted on Sunday, the same day Jack was seen arriving at Birmingham Airport following a romantic holiday with Sasha in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Landing via private jet, the 25-year-old Euro star was unaccompanied by his partner as he prepared to make his way home.

The Aston Villa player sported a plain-white Balenciaga T-shirt, paired with a cloudy sky printed pair of swimshorts.

Jack is currently at the centre of a rumoured £100million transfer rumour mill involving reigning Premier League champions Manchester City.

If rumours are true, the transfer will eclipse Paul Pogba’s £89.6m move to Manchester United from Juventus in 2016.