Bisexual boxer Nicola Adams shares the shocking abuse she and her girlfriend face for being a same-sex, interracial couple
Nicola Adams and her partner, Ella Baig (TikTok/@nicola_adams)
Two-time Olympic gold medallist and world champion boxer Nicola Adams OBE has revealed the abuse she and her partner receive for being in a same-sex, interracial relationship.
The flyweight champion and Celebrity Gogglebox star, 37, appeared on Loose Women’s Pride week series with her beauty blogger girlfriend, Ella Baig, 37.
The couple of two years shared a TikTok video detailing the kind of comments they receive on social media “to encourage people to be aware of what they say to others”.
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Adams repeatedly hears she’s “too Black” and “looks like a man”, while Baig is told she is “fake”, a “slut” and “unnatural”. Together they are often told “you can’t have sex”, or asked who is “the man” in their relationship.
“We’re both really quite strong willed and comments don’t really affect us too much,” Adams explained to the show’s hosts. “We always ignore it [but] for a lot of people it’s hard to do that sometimes.
“People might think we don’t experience those types of comments, but we do. Those comments do affect people – keep on fighting, don’t let it get you down.”
She continued: “Normally I just bat comments away and I won’t bother responding to them, I’ll just basically block them. But I know for some people, they’re not as strong willed as I am or as Ella is.”
Baig suggested that a lot of the abuse they receive is from people who “aren’t trying to be horrible”, but instead those who might say something offensive “unknowingly”.
Addressing their uplifting clip on combating abuse, she said: “We got a really positive response to the video. We made it to encourage people to be aware of what they say to other people. You might think it’s a one-off comment, but it can add up.”
Nicola Adams has previously spoken of the discrimination and prejudice she has experienced in her sport, but noted that she has never encountered homophobia in boxing.
Speaking to GQ in 2016, she said: “Racism, yes. Sexism, yes, in boxing – people saying women shouldn’t box. I’ve never come across homophobia.”
