Alisha Lehmann ‘made Love Island star play higher’ after he ‘could not discover membership’

Alisha Lehmann’s ex-Love Island and semi-professional footballer boyfriend Montel McKenzie has lauded her coaching ability after he struggled to find a club

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Alisha Lehmann’s former Love Island star and semi-professional footballer boyfriend Montel McKenzie admitted he struggled to find a club due to his reality TV fame.

The Leicester City forward, 27, who is the most followed female footballer on Instagram with 15.7million followers, is revelling in her blossoming relationship with Folkestone Invicta wing-back McKenzie, 28, with the two growing close thanks to their pivotal roles in the six-a-side Baller League tournament.

Since the tournament arrived in the UK last year, it has been a contentious distraction in non-league football as some players attempt to balance their schedule between Saturday and Tuesday matches and midweek training, alongside playing on Sky Sports.

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Throw in a reality TV career through Love Island, and it makes it even tougher for McKenzie to manage. He revealed that his transition back to football from the villa was not as easy as he had thought, with his new-found fame putting clubs off his signature.

“After going on the show, you get branded as a TV star and whatnot, but if you know me, you know that I’m very focused on football,” McKenzie told Daily Mail Sport. “It’s just something that I have always tried to excel at.

“So being given this opportunity to be on Sky Sports, and be in front of all these celebrities and influencers, it’s helped me to put my mark down that I am a footballer.

“You don’t see me play at Folkestone, so Baller League and Sky Sports on a Monday night has given me the platform to show that I do both, and both to a pretty high standard.”

McKenzie found fame on Love Island, with his semi-professional football career seemingly taking a back seat, even more so in recent years with him pivotal to the Baller League storyline, or that’s how it appeared to clubs looking at signing the defender.

“It’s something that I found difficult,” McKenzie continued after his reality TV fame. “Initially, I thought it would help me because I thought there would be more eyes on me, or people would just be watching out for me more.

“But it actually didn’t help me. A lot of managers didn’t sign me because they thought, ‘Oh, he might not be serious about football’, so it kind of gives you a bad name in that space.

“You know, football, they don’t really like the show business of it, they want to keep it very football.

“It’s the same with people who have personalities; they don’t want people to show the other side of them. Which is why I think Baller League is so good because you can express your personality, do your celebrations, and talk a bit of smack.

“It just makes it a lot more fun for the players, and more enjoyable for the viewers as well.”

McKenzie has since found stability in his football career, with him signing for Folkestone last summer and playing 35 times for the league leaders this season in all competitions.

Prior to his time on the south coast at the Alcaline Stadium he narrowly missed out on promotion with Billericay Town in the play-off semi-final, where he played 34 times for the Blues.

However, the return of the third season of Baller League leaves McKenzie with another situation between prioritising his semi-professional career at a crucial time when Folkestone are looking to seal the title, or playing for MVPs under Maya Jama and his girlfriend Alisha Lehmann.

McKenzie has praised the Leicester City forward for giving him advice on his game too. “Obviously if you have an ex-pro they will add. Obviously, we had Alisha, she knows about football so she was giving her piece on how we were playing,” he said.

“Throughout most of the season, we weren’t speaking,” McKenzie admitted about his blossoming relationship with Lehmann. “It wasn’t like the whole season she was my girlfriend. It was more like halfway through toward the end.

“But definitely once we did start speaking, it made me play a lot better. Knowing that she was on the side, if I made a bad pass, I needed to get back and needed to go score. Naturally, it gives you that push like having a family member or friend watching.”

However, McKenzie will be listening to a new voice on the sidelines with him to captain Prime FC, coached by KSI, leaving Lehmann’s MVPs on the eve of the new season.