Riyad Mahrez has risked infuriating his wife Taylor Ward with a comment he made to Dele Alli during the former Tottenham star’s live stream.
Alli, 30, was speaking to various footballer friends on his new Twitch channel and Mahrez did not appear to appreciate that he was being broadcast live to thousands of fans watching on.
Mahrez picked up the call and struggled to hear Alli when he said: ‘I’m in London, streaming, I was just calling people, they can hear you, they can hear you live on stream bro.’
The 35-year-old replied: ‘I’m in Dubai bro. There are some f***ing birds in here bro, honestly.’
Upon realising what Mahrez had said, Alli swiftly pushed his chair away from the microphone before moving out of shot briefly and looked sheepish upon his return to the stream.
Mahrez has been married to his British model and influencer wife since 2023 and the couple share two children. He also has two children with his first wife, British model Rita Johal.
Riyad Mahrez made an indiscreet comment to Dele Alli while speaking on his live stream
Ward and Mahrez have lived in Saudi Arabia since his move to Al-Ahli three years ago.
His indiscreet remark on Alli’s stream risks embarrassing his other half, who co-founded jewellery line Astalia and has almost three million followers on social media.
Her relationship with Mahrez has been well documented. They starred in Amazon series Married to the Game, which gave viewers a deep dive into the lives of footballers’ wives and girlfriends.
Ward opened up on her life during that programme, including the moment when Mahrez revealed he would be leaving City for Saudi Arabia in a clip that went viral.
Ward said she was ‘overwhelmed’ when Mahrez informed her they would be leaving Manchester and moving to Jeddah at short notice, with the star telling her: ‘It’s part of the game, innit,’ after she had expressed concern that she would be ‘sat at home on my own’.
Speaking to Daily Mail Sport last year, Ward admitted Mahrez’s response to her ‘still haunts me’, but said the Algerian player was ‘straight-talking’ and ‘to the point’.
‘That whole week was just an emotional rollercoaster really,’ she said. ‘It was a huge shock and I had absolutely no idea. One day we were planning for Riyad to go back to pre-season with City and then overnight we were moving to Saudi and I was planning this whole move.
‘I think it was just very overwhelming at the time and a massive shock because I just didn’t see it coming at all. That scene with Riyad – that is just him to a tee.
Mahrez and wife Taylor Ward are pictured celebrating after his victory with Al-Ahli last season
Ward is a social media sensation with nearly 3million followers on Instagram
‘He is just straight talking and to the point. He is very much just like, “it is what it is, you’ve got to get over it now”, whereas I’m more emotional. That’s why we work because I’m a bit of a flapper in those situations and he’s very on the ball and just gets on with it.
‘One day he rang me while I was sat on the beach and said “we’re moving and I’m going tomorrow, that’s it”.
‘He put me on the phone to one of the girls at the club and I burst into tears – I was like “I can’t believe this is happening”. It happened so quick, you don’t get a minute to say bye to everyone. One minute he was starting pre-season, the next he was saying goodbye.’
Mahrez has scored twice in four games this season for Al-Ahli and the Algerian is regarded as one of the best African footballers of all time.
Alli, meanwhile, remains without a club and appears to be transitioning into raising his media profile, though he says he remains intent on returning to the sport.
