Mary Earps

Mary Earps says she has not written her book to "tear anyone down" and feels reaction to it has been "distorted". The former England goalkeeper, who played a key role in their Euro 2022 victory, faced backlash from fans and Chelsea boss Sonia Bompastor after she made comments about former Lionesses team-mate Hannah Hampton and manager Sarina Wiegman. Earps' autobiography is released this week but extracts have been published by the Guardian, external . In the book, Earps claims she told Wiegman she was rewarding "bad behaviour" by recalling Hampton to the England squad after dropping her for being "disruptive and unreliable". In response, Bompastor said Chelsea's Hampton had shown "class" and she felt Earps had disrespected Wiegman. "It's been really overwhelming to see how some things have been distorted a little bit," Earps told BBC Sport. "Women's football has entered into a space that has become a bit like entertainment, so your life gets picked apart for people's amusement sometimes. But it's not amusing, you know? "I don't think it's a fair reflection and I think it's been taken out of the entirety of the context. I speak about so many different things and it's hard to see only certain things being pulled out and really focused on." Earps did not want to comment further on her history with Hampton in the interview but among a range of topics in the book she discussed losing her spot as England number one prior to Euro 2025 and how that strained her relationship with Wiegman. "There were things that happened in the summer that I wish had happened differently, of course. There's an exchange at the end where she says we're like family. I hope the noise of this situation hasn't changed that," added Earps. The 32-year-old, currently playing for Paris St-Germain, said she has no regrets from her career or decisions. "Regrets are hard because it's outcome-driven. You can be a hero in one person's eyes and a villain in another's. "If you do things with integrity and the right intentions then I don't think you should have regrets in life, no matter what the outcome is." Those emotions led to panic attacks as Earps says she "felt really misunderstood". She also struggled with body image and during the Covid pandemic turned to alcohol to cope with anxiety and depression, as well as restricting her food. "It was definitely conscious. For as long as I can remember, aside from the last few years where I've had a much healthier relationship with food, I've always felt like I wasn't slim enough or athletic enough," said Earps. "But it's not nice when you're not comfortable in your own skin to have your fat pinched and told you need to bring it down a bit. "I can remember being really young and just not liking what I looked like." As Earps' success on the football pitch increased, so too did invites to glamorous events and the number of photographers that come with it. "You're in a room getting all these photos taken and you think 'that was a horrible angle'," she added. "The way you look aesthetically and fuelling as an athlete are two conflicting ideals. That's hard for anybody in the limelight." On Friday, Earps told the BBC she felt "ready and happy to share" that she is in a same-sex relationship with her partner Kitty. She says her time at Wolfsburg in 2018-2019 helped her see things differently, and though when she met Kitty it was "confusing", she is proud of their relationship. "I have always tried to keep my relationships private but that isn't realistic when you're writing a book of integrity and authenticity." During the 2023 Women's World Cup, Earps reveals in the book that Kitty had a row with the goalkeeper's dad after hearing "hurtful things" about their relationship. Earps worried if her family would ever accept Kitty in that moment. Having a family of her own has also been something in Earps' mind for a few years and she has frozen her eggs for later use in fertility treatment. "There were a f