I Am The Secret WAG - The Secret WAG

The Secret WAG by The Secret WAG
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

'Money, cars, homes, holidays, parties and all the shoes you've ever dreamed of. The life of a footballer's wife or girlfriend must be as glamorous and exciting as her other half, right? But behind the closed doors of the WAG's world, there are all the pressures as well as pleasures of success. So what is it really like?

The Secret WAG lays bare the reality of existence under the celebrity spotlight. It is about fashion and fame, sex and scandal, but, like the bestselling Secret Footballer books, is also an honest appraisal of life on and off the field of play which will change your preconceptions about footballers and their partners. It is sassy, outspoken, funny and above all, written from the heart. Meet The Secret WAG.'



I received this in the post from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I had no idea this book was winging its way to me in the post, but when it arrived I thought it looked interesting but hadn’t heard of it before. I used to really love to read about celebrities and WAG’s, I remembered the previous World Cup and followed the stories of the WAGS religiously. I don’t have as much time now to keep up with celebrities as much, however I do like to read about them if I can. So I was really looking forward to sitting down with this book.

The first thing that comes to mind when I began reading this book was can the WAG really be kept a secret? Surely by revealing details about the football world and other WAGS this would identify her. I had actually been talking to the secret wag on twitter and I asked her while I was reading the book, if we would find out who she was by the end of it? To which she replied that she hoped not as she didn’t want her family and friends to know.

The more I began to read the book I realised that anyone close to her, family or friends that move in the same circles as her, would know who she was, if they read the book. There are references to things that happened directly to her family such as so many break ins to their family home and her dad attending a football game with her.

The book begins when ‘The Secret WAG’ is at university and is a ‘normal’ person. I actually really enjoyed reading this part of the story as you felt you were able to connect with her more. I enjoyed reading about her relationship with said footballer and how she adapted her life to be a footballer’s wife.

I felt for the secret WAG at times when I read the book, there is an incident in a night club toilet where some girls bully the secret WAG and attack her. I feel that this was uncalled for, they never found the girls who attacked her, but I do agree with her husband when he said they were jealous of what she had. There are points like this that bring home to you how spiteful people can be and that no one deserves that. I felt the way it was written really sucked you in and you did want to read more.

As for finding out about other WAG’s, the secret WAG has referred to them in nicknames such as Boastful WAG, Destroyed WAG and Paranoid WAG. She does talk generally about other WAGs with their names such as the scandal that came out against Wayne Rooney and how Colleen stood by him. Saying this, it was nothing new; we all knew this did come out in the papers and what her reaction was to it.

We learn a lot about The Secret WAG’s own life and adapting to become a WAG. Beauty treatments, some of which I had never heard of before and to be honest after reading about them, never want to try. Although she talks about ‘adapting’ to life as a WAG, it doesn’t seem to take long and she becomes fixated with “looking good” just as the other WAG’s do. Going to the gym for numerous sessions during the week, having her boobs enlarged. Again all these things all WAG’s do, so again this is nothing new we are reading.

My only negative was I felt that sometimes the way the book was written kept trying to make you feel sorry for her, that it is awful being a WAG, as you have little to do, and your footballing husband doesn’t want you to get a job, you’re constantly moving away from your family due to his job. To be honest, this is part of being a WAG; most people would give their left arm to have the life they do. Being able to shop and not worry about money, eating out in fancy restaurants and being able to have swanky holidays and new cars. I felt that this was a little insensitive to the readers during a time when we as a country are still recovering from the recession.

Overall I did really enjoy the book, but I like to read about celebrities. Did we learn anything new about WAGs? I did about the WAG in question but not other than that. Will this change people’s opinions on WAG’s? Personally I don’t think it will. If you become a WAG you know there are sacrifices you have to make. You sacrifice your career, have to accept being in the public eye, move away from your family for your man’s job and have to put up with the chance of your man being unfaithful. (Let’s face it; it seems that all footballers are never happy with what they have). These are some of the things that come along with being a WAG and people are not going to feel sorry for them because of that. Something I don’t understand after reading this is why WAG’s don’t divorce their footballer after the has been unfaithful, Cheryl Cole managed it, however Cheryl Cole had her own career and money before she married Ashley so maybe that’s why…

I would recommend this as a beach read or for when your man is watching the World Cup this summer, it’s not taxing and a relatively light read. It had me hooked from the beginning, and I found it a quick and easy read; this could be because I was itching to find out who the secret WAG was. I feel that this is a very honest book and an account of a life of a woman who feels she has been living in the shadow of her husband, which is a very sad thought. It has made me wonder if all WAG's feel that they cannot live out their own life feel they are constantly in the shadow and have a lonely existence.  

I think this book will do very well, not only does it tie in the World Cup nicely but the mystery surrounding who the WAG is may encourage those who were only thinking about buying it to get it.