Television presenter Jean Johansson has described the conflicting realities of life as the partner of a high-profile Old Firm footballer, saying the role brought both extraordinary perks and moments that left her “terrified.” Johansson’s recollections come as another glamour figure, Lucy Pinder, finds herself in the Glasgow spotlight amid criticism aimed at her partner, Rangers manager Russell Martin.
Johansson, who married former Rangers striker Jonatan Johansson in 2008, told Daily Mail Sport that early in their relationship a jubilant fan jumped into the back of the couple’s car after a Rangers victory, an event she said was “really, really scary.” She also described long-term pressures from photographers, intrusive public attention and persistent sectarian abuse that has followed her into the social media era.
“We were just leaving Ibrox,” Johansson recalled. “Someone opened the back seat of the car and jumped in. Luckily, it was a Rangers fan but, for one second, I had no idea who it was that had come in behind me. It’s an incident that really, really scared me.” She said the man wanted to congratulate her partner and give a quick hug, but the unexpected intrusion highlighted how quickly the boundaries between public and private life could be crossed.
Johansson said there were advantages to being a footballer’s partner — easier reservations at restaurants, sponsored cars and discounts at fashion stores — but she also described feeling vulnerable and watched. She said those experiences were amplified when she was still a teenager and had just won her first television job.
“When I was modelling and on TV, it’s not always a bad thing to have your photograph taken,” she said. “But then there are times when you don’t want to be photographed, and that’s very different. Sometimes you did get a bit panicky and anxious about going out. It often felt like everyone was watching you and having an opinion.”
Johansson said the transition from the pre-social-media era to today’s landscape has worsened the intrusion for current players and their families. She said she has continued to receive sectarian abuse on social platforms despite Jonatan leaving Rangers as a player in 2000, and that unpleasant commentary would sometimes surface in response to unrelated posts.
“There was definitely a lot of pressure that came from being a manager and, of course, you bring that home,” she said, recalling periods when her husband later went into coaching and management. While Jonatan enjoyed “some of the best times of his life at Rangers,” she said, darker episodes occurred when he managed teams, including a spell at Morton, where supporters’ chants were directed at her.
Johansson said the move away from Glasgow provided relief. When the couple relocated to London after Jonatan signed for Charlton Athletic, she said they found a level of anonymity that made day-to-day life easier.
“It was a real breath of fresh air. To go out and not have anybody talking or whispering or have the paps outside,” she said, noting that in England there were “much bigger fish to fry” for the media by that stage.
Her account underscores the continued public scrutiny that comes with Old Firm affiliations. Lucy Pinder, the former glamour model now partnered with Rangers manager Russell Martin, has been exposed to intense fan reaction this season as calls for managerial changes followed a series of poor results. The experience of other well-known figures who have lived in Glasgow while attached to high-profile players, including former Coronation Street actress Helen Flanagan during Scott Sinclair’s time at Celtic, further illustrates how deeply football culture in the city can permeate private life.
Johansson, now a presenter on the property show A Place in the Sun and a mother, said she regarded the positive aspects of her past life as outweighing the negatives, but that being a WAG (wives and girlfriends of sportspeople) is “a whole other ball game” now because social media gives the public unprecedented direct access to personal lives.
“I’m now 44, I’m a mum and a really busy broadcaster. I’m so grateful for everything I had in my 20s, my husband playing in Scotland and then the English Premier League,” she said. “We were extremely privileged to have had that life. However, that chapter has now closed, and I’m probably at the peak of my career right now.”
Johansson said she understands the attraction and the glamour of the role but urged resilience for those currently in the spotlight. “You do have to be really thick-skinned,” she said, adding that the best way partners can help is by offering support to the person in the public role.
Her comments provide a contemporaneous lens on a saga that keeps resurfacing around Old Firm football: a mix of celebrity, adulation and hostility that can follow players, managers and their families for years. They also highlight how changes in media and technology have intensified the scrutiny and the ease with which abuse can be delivered, even long after a playing career has ended.
As public profiles remain an unavoidable part of life for many connected to elite football, Johansson’s account is a reminder that the benefits often described in popular portrayals are matched by moments of discomfort, fear and, in some cases, sustained hostility. Those tensions persist in Glasgow and beyond, shaping the daily lives of partners who live in the glare of football fandom.