Arabella Mia knew she had to get back to London the moment Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for a Premier League title.
The die-hard Gooner – often dubbed ‘Arsenal’s biggest female fan’ – had spent the previous six months living Down Under, but when Manchester City failed to beat Bournemouth and handed Mikel Arteta’s side the crown, she booked a flight and jetted home from Australia to celebrate in her own unique way.
It wasn’t the first time Arabella had put her special effects and media makeup degree to good use. Covering herself in body paint designed to look like an Arsenal home shirt, she quickly became the centre of attention in north London, just as she has on many occasions previously.
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“Most of it was positive because nobody was expecting me to be home,” she told Daily Star Sport after the celebrations had died down.
“But I did have one older woman come up to me and say: ‘This is not a good look’.” However, Arabella was more shocked by the reception she received compared to her brother, who was also topless and wearing only body paint and a cap above the waist.
“Most people were noticing Caleb more than me because he’s taller. Then they’d realise what I was doing and have less to say about him. People were queuing up to talk to Caleb and saying things like, ‘Oh my God, I love your shirt’.
“Then they’d see me and be a bit more hesitant…I think it’s because people sexualise the fact that I have boobs.
“What’s interesting is that after posting online, nobody is mentioning him at all. It’s literally just me getting the negative reaction. But as we’ve seen before, it’s mainly online where the reaction becomes much more negative.”
However, it wasn’t all negative on the streets of north London, and Arabella joked she was “overwhelmed” by the number of people asking for photos.
“Usually I do fan interviews when I’m out, but yesterday I couldn’t even get those done because so many people wanted pictures. I should have started charging them…I quit Only Fans to make money from people taking pictures with me.”
Arabella added that she can paint “any Arsenal shirt in about an hour”. And she will sit at home and practice as body painting is “therapeutic” because it’s the only time her “brain completely switches off.”
As for protecting her modesty: “You get extra-large nipple covers that pretty much cover everything. They’re almost like little cups. The only thing you really see is the underside of my boob.”
It was the chance Arabella had been looking for to let her hair down after initially missing out on the title celebrations – but she admitted it was “incredible seeing so many people there all celebrating the same thing.
“People had speakers; everyone was singing and having fun. It’s weird how you can all come together as a community and feel like you know each other even when you’re complete strangers!”
Arabella documented her day on social media, showing off the painting process with a ‘get-ready-with-me’ style video. And while she does it all herself, she joked it took her brother slightly longer “because he was ticklish”.
In other clips, she can be seen trying to keep cool on the tube en route to the Emirates, before she is seen on someone’s shoulders.
More short clips from the parade on her X timeline show Arabella posing with her brother while holding a “Champions 26” shirt, while others show her posing for photos with fans.
“One older guy who recognised me came over and said: ‘This will never happen again in my lifetime’. So many people said that to me yesterday! I was like, ‘How do you know that?’ Anything could happen.”
Arabella added: “I actually got home quite early because I was starving and my back was killing me. The most ridiculous thing was riding around London on a Lime bike covered in body paint!”
It’s the World Cup now for Arabella, and she will jet stateside to follow Thomas Tuchel’s England as they look to win their first major piece of silverware since 1966.
“I’m doing it in an RV because it worked out easier than constantly paying for hotels and flights,” she explained. “So I’m basically driving around America following the tournament.
“It’ll be fun. Although after seeing the England squad announcement, I’m not quite as confident as I was…”