WAG Taylor Ward says she feels safer living in Saudi Arabia with husband Riyad Mahrez after escaping the threat of burglary gangs targeting Premier League stars’ homes.
The reality star, 27, told The Sun on Sunday she “can now sleep at night” after making the move to Jeddah, where the ex-Manchester City star, 34, now plys his trade for Al-Ahli following his £30million switch from the Premier League champions.
Gangs have targeted several footballers’ multi million pound homes in what’s been dubbed the “Cheshire Golden Triangle” – comprising the prestigious towns of Wilmslow, Alderley Edge, and Prestbury.
Some of those houses have been decked out by Taylor’s mum Dawn Ward, an interior designer to the stars, but now she feels secure in the Middle East, so much so she’s allowing her £850,000-a-week husband to splash out on expensive gifts.
Taylor said: “I feel way safer in Saudi – I can actually sleep at night now.
“My house in Saudi is ten times bigger than my house in England, and if I had to stay on my own somewhere, I would choose Saudi every day of the week.
“I’ve never stayed on my own in England, ever. We live in an apartment. I’ve never stayed there by myself. I’m just really conscious.
“There’s so many burglaries and bad things going on especially in Cheshire. It’s a massive problem.
“Living abroad now is great because I don’t bring anything home. It’s not worth it because we’ve been burgled in the past and it puts you off having nice things.
“I used to say to Riyad, ‘please don’t buy me a watch for my birthday, please don’t buy me these because I don’t want to be a target.’
“Now that we live in Saudi, you actually get the opportunity to enjoy and wear nice things.”
Manchester City winger Jack Grealish had his £5.6m house raided on Boxing Day, while he was playing, by a gang who fled with £1m worth of luxury goods including watches and jewellery.
His terrified girlfriend Sasha Attwood was inside the property when the raid took place.
Former Liverpool stars Steven Gerrard and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, ex-Everton defender Phil Jagielka have also been previously targeted.
Taylor, who shares a 20-month-old daughter with Mahrez and is stepmum to his other two daughters, is one of the five WAGS starring in Prime Video series Married to the Game, which follows the glamorous lives of partners of renowned footballers.
The second series, which starts on Monday, sees Taylor joined by Cat Harding, fiancée of Arsenal star Jorginho, Gabrielle Figueiredo, the wife of his Gunners’ teammate Gabriel Magalhães, Chelsea WAG Claudia Rodríguez and boyfriend Marc Cucurella, plus Aston Villa star Leon Bailey and his girlfriend Stephanie Hope.
In the debut series streamed last year, Taylor went viral after sobbing when five-times Premier League winner Mahrez told her they were moving to Saudi Arabia following his transfer from Manchester City.
But having taken months to finally settle in the Middle East, Taylor now feels at home – although there are some stark differences, especially when it comes to the WAGS out there.
She explained: “There’s no champagne. When we used to go to the Etihad it was like a day out and I had a really good relationship with them all at Man City.
“We traveled so much, because they were in all the finals, like the Champions League and all that kind of stuff.
“We did a lot of trips together and we had a really close bond, which is really nice.
“That’s slightly different in Saudi. I don’t know the players and the partners as well.
“People keep themselves to themselves more out here.”
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