Vile chants drive Rice's girlfriend away: The devastating toll of body-shaming

Like any young Premier League footballer and his girlfriend, Declan Rice and Lauren Fryer love sharing their special moments on social media — or rather they did.

Whether it's meeting Liam Gallagher at Reading Festival or jetting off on a luxury holiday, until very recently the loved-up 25-year-olds have documented their good times without a care in the world.

This week, however, all trace of Arsenal and England midfielder Declan and his childhood sweetheart Lauren vanished from Instagram and Twitter.

Lauren was said to be 'holed up' at the couple's £2.6 million Surrey mansion, too distraught to face the world, while Declan is said to be 'desperately sad' and trying to keep away from vicious comments thrown his way.

The reason for this sorry state of affairs, however, is not what you think.

Declan and Lauren are not the subjects of yet another sordid 'kiss and tell'. Quite the opposite, in fact.

It seems the couple have fallen foul of rules surrounding the world of football, i.e. how WAGs are expected to look and behave, and found themselves the victims of a cruel online bullying campaign over Lauren's appearance.

The trolling started in December last year when an anonymous account told Declan he 'could do better' than his childhood sweetheart, with whom he shares 20-month-old son, Jude.

Recently, Declan was told he had 'low standards' for being in a relationship with Lauren. This week matters became so torrid that Lauren decided to delete every image on her account.

It appears her only crime is that she isn't the archetypal gym-toned and pumped-up WAG desperately chasing fame, fortune and the next designer handbag.

Other footballers' wives have told me that Lauren is one of the 'loveliest people you could meet'.

'There is a