Alisha Lehmann says online hate left her sleeping all day

Alisha Lehmann says she stopped going outside and slept all day while struggling with a wave of online hate. The 27-year-old, one of football's most followed players with almost 16 million Instagram followers, told podcast hosts Millie Bright and Rachel Daly that fame at times became too much to cope with.

On the Daly Brightness podcast Lehmann said she never set out to be famous and was simply following what other players were doing, but as her following grew the criticism increased too. "I probably didn't go outside anymore. I just slept all day," she said, adding that early posts drew accusations that she was "not a football player" and were judged harshly.

She believes the tone has changed and that people are now "so much nicer." Lehmann has turned an audience that once judged her into one that often admires her work; she is frequently asked how to build a company and grow a following. "Now everyone does the same," she said, noting that both men and women players use Instagram similarly.

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