Girlfriends is an American comedy-drama sitcom that premiered on September 11, 2000, on UPN and aired on UPN's successor network, The CW, before being cancelled in 2008. The final episode aired on February 11, 2008.

When Girlfriends returned in fall 2007 for its eighth season, it became the longest-running live-action sitcom on network television that was on air that year, as well as one of the highest-rated scripted shows on television among African American adults and women 18-34, including its spin-off The Game.^[1]

Overview[link]

The series debuted on UPN on September 11, 2000. After airing for several years on the network at 9/8C on Mondays, The CW moved Girlfriends to Sundays at 8/7C. On October 9, 2006, Girlfriends, along with The CW's other African American programs, moved back to Mondays. At this point, Girlfriends returned to its original time slot.^[2]

While UPN was still airing new episodes of Girlfriends, the network also began airing reruns five days per week. When the show moved to The CW network after UPN merged with The WB network, MyNetwork TV (which was created to take over UPN's former affiliate stations) picked up the rights to air reruns of Girlfriends, although they eventually discontinued this. WE tv, a network with primarily women's programming, later acquired exclusive rights to air the limited-release episodes on Sundays and exercised an option to not allow broadcast television networks re-broadcast rights to these reruns.

As of January 2011, the series airs in reruns on Centric.

Characters[link]

Main characters[link]

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• Joan Carol Clayton, Esq. (played by Tracee Ellis Ross) is considered the unofficial "den mother" of the group, as she frequently looks out for her friends even at the expense of dealing with her own problems. Joan, originally from Fresno, met Toni when they were children, met Lynn in college, and became friends with Maya and William while working at a law firm. She has always had problems with relationships and gave up her law career to pursue her dreams. She and Toni clash several times throughout the series, resulting in ending and reconciling their friendship. Major incidents involved Joan inadvertently revealing Toni's cheating to Greg, and Joan's jealousy of Toni's marriage to Todd, but their friendship officially ends by the end of Season 6 when Joan fails to appear for Toni's custody hearing. For much of Season 7, Joan mourned the loss of her friendship with Toni. At the end of Season 7, she became engaged to Aaron Waters, whom she met while rehabilitating homes in New Orleans damaged by Hurricane Katrina; she moved into his home while Aaron was deployed to Iraq and rented her house to Lynn.

• Maya Denise Wilkes (played by Golden Brooks) is a former assistant to Joan and a housewife/author. Maya is from Compton, California and is married to her high school sweetheart, Darnell. They have one child, Jabari. Maya is the sassiest of the group, and is often at odds with Toni over her ego-driven lifestyle. She is a devoted wife and mother, and is frequently depicted with stronger religious convictions than the rest of the group. Maya is the most "working class" member of the group, especially in earlier seasons of the series. In the first few seasons Maya was more obviously "from the hood", with the associated stereotyped speech and mannerisms. However, as she becomes more successful and interacts more extensively with the legal and publishing industries, she exhibits fewer stereotypes; while still obviously from a different social background as the rest of the group, she is no longer as caricatured. In early seasons, Maya's marriage to Darnell imploded after she had an emotional affair with an acquaintance. Later, after she launches a career as a self-help author, they reunite. In Season 8, the couple endured a miscarriage, and later explored the possibility of adopting a child.

• Lynn Ann Searcy (played by Persia White) was Joan and Toni's roommate at UCLA and lived with Joan for eight years before the series begins. Lynn holds five post-graduate degrees. Born in Virginia to a black father and a bipolar white mother who comes from a wealthy family, Lynn was adopted by a white family in Seattle (her dad affectionately calls her "Noodle"). She did not embrace her black background until attending college, where she met Joan and Toni. When Joan decides it is time for Lynn to move out of her home, Lynn reluctantly becomes more independent by taking on various, mostly menial jobs. She previously lived with Toni, William, Maya and Sivad (temporarily); and shared a garage with then-boyfriend Vosco before moving into her own apartment (after becoming a property manager at the complex where Maya lived). She produces a documentary on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, focusing on African-American women. While Lynn is depicted as the most sexually adventurous of the group (with frequent mentions of one-night stands, group sex, sex toys, and her infamous "Lynn Spin"), she also dates frequently. She is most attracted to artistic and spiritual men, and over the course of the series has relationships with a Jamaican immigrant, a poet, a pastor, and a musician named Finn (the recording artist Tricky). She was also briefly married to William. Her romantic involvement with Lenny (who shared too many similarities with Lynn, prompting the other girls to label him as her "brother") was the catalyst for her to search for her biological father. After dating Finn, she discovers that music is her passion, and starts a band called Indigo Skye. Lynn is often considered the bohemian of the group (due to her carefree nature and down to earth personality), and is also a vegan. By Season 8, she had signed with a record label called "Dirty Girl" Records.

• Antoinette "Toni" Marie Childs Garrett (played by Jill Marie Jones, Seasons 1-6) had been Joan's friend since childhood, and they went to college at UCLA together. Toni grew up in a poor farm family with an alcoholic mother in Fresno, California. Toni is considered the selfish and popular one of her girlfriends and is the self-proclaimed "cute one" of the group. During the first season of the show she despised Maya (whom she considered a lower-class intruder), but ultimately embraced her friendship. Toni is a real estate agent who eventually opens her own brokerage. She rekindles her romance with Greg Sparks (the "love of her life"), but is dumped by Greg when he learns that she has cheated on him with Dr. Clay Spencer. Toni unexpectedly finds love with Todd Garrett, a white, Jewish plastic surgeon, whom she eventually marries after a short courtship. After a rocky year-long marriage, the two separate after Todd moves to New York. They divorce shortly after the birth of their daughter, Morgan Garrett. Raising an infant as a single mother raises new issues for Toni's self-indulgent personality, but she finds a way to balance her career and her parental responsibilities. After a protracted custody battle, she and Todd agree to settle their differences for the sake of their daughter. She moves to New York so that Morgan can be closer to her father, but has maintained her friendships with Maya and Lynn. (Though Joan tried to make amends to Toni in Season 7, Toni refuses any further contact with Joan.) Although she is mentioned frequently in the early episodes of Season 7, Toni does not appear in Seasons 7 or 8 (due to Jones' departure).

• William Jerrowme Dent (played by Reggie Hayes) is the girls' closest male friend. He is senior partner at Goldberg, Swedelson, McDonald and Lee. Hailing from Kansas City, he is portrayed as somewhat of a "mama's boy", but possesses self-confidence and a dry sense of humor. (One episode focused on his distant and complicated relationship with his father, who is a perfectionist.) After being left at the wedding altar by the woman he loved, Yvonne Blackwell, he reluctantly gets back into the groove of dating, including Donna, Kara, senior partner Sharon Upton Farley, and the at-times vicious Monica Charles Brooks (whom he ultimately marries). Fearing that Joan would beat him to the altar, he eloped with Lynn on a whim; he realized that he wanted to find true love and they ultimately divorce. He later realizes that Joan is the right woman for him, but after three months of courting, the two end their relationship. He became a sperm donor for his sister Linda and her same-sex partner, and regards the baby as his "nephew-son." He is also co-owner of the J-Spot restaurant with Joan. In later seasons, William forges a tight bond with Darnell. During Season 7, he was working on his marriage with Monica. According to his mother, his middle name is spelled with two "R"s, and a silent "W".^[3] By the end of Season 8, William has found out (behind Monica's back) that they are expecting a son.

• Monica Charles Brooks-Dent (played by Keesha Sharp) is William's wife. All four of the girlfriends (especially Lynn) hated her until season 7 (Joan comes to see her vulnerable side and becomes her friend, and Toni moves to New York at the end of the sixth season). In the seventh season, they slowly and later fully accept Monica as their friend as Monica does the same. Although engaged to William, the two date twice before; they meet at a bar the first time. Since the last time William proposes to her in Monaco, he has occasionally had doubts about ever doing so. Eventually he marries her, but on their wedding day he has too much to drink and confesses that he has had and still has doubts about marrying her. Monica leaves William in Season 7 but returns shortly after the girlfriends go to Chicago to persuade her to get back together with William. On their visit, they discover that Monica, due to her father's dementia and her mother's power of attorney, has been cut off from her family fortune, so Joan offers Monica a job at the J-Spot. William is thrilled about Monica's return until she demands half of what he earned while they were married. They manage to slowly rebuild their relationship but constantly clash at the J-Spot. In the Season 7 finale, they get back together. By Season 8, Monica was pregnant and is seen spending more time with the other three girlfriends, particularly Joan.

• Darnell Leroy Wilkes (played by Flex Alexander Season 1, Khalil Kain seasons 2-8) is Maya's husband. He and Maya married at a young age and had Jabari. Darnell was an airport baggage handler, before becoming a mechanic at a local car repair shop. For a while, he was a NASCAR pit crew mechanic. After Maya's affair with Stan Wright the two divorce. In earlier seasons, he felt threatened by Maya's relationship with Joan, Toni and Lynn; he ultimately put his issues aside and became friends with them. After his divorce, he dated a woman named Lena (Chenoa Maxwell) whom Maya disliked because she still had feelings for Darnell. At Lena and Darnell's wedding Maya professed her love for Darnell. The two reconcile and begin living together again in Season 6. In the end of Season 7 Darnell accepts an offer to buy back his garage and get Maya and Jabari a new house in L.A. After suffering a miscarriage, the couple contemplate adopting a child.

Minor characters[link]

• Jabari Darnell Wilkes: (played by: Seasons 1-6 Tanner Scott Richards, season 7-8 Kendré Berry) is Maya and Darnell's son. He was born when Maya was only sixteen years old. A running gag in the series is Toni's habit of mispronouncing his name by calling him names such as Jumanji, Gymboree, Jujube, Jacuzzi, Jalebi, June bug, Djibuti, Jaboobooboo, Jamal, Jafifi, Jamiroquai, Jimmy Crack Corn, Jungle Jim, Juwanna Mann, Jeep Cherokee, Jolly Rancher, Jakarta and Jam On It. Toni has said his name correctly only twice. He was depicted to be a sweet innocent child but once he entered his teen years he seemed to be a little more dimwitted and rebellious.^{[citation needed]}
• Jeanette Woods: (played by Charmin Lee) is Maya's no-nonsense mother who won't hesitate to put a switch to her adult daughter. She babysat Jabari while he was younger, and also rented out her garage for Lynn and her then- boyfriend Vosco to live after Joan kicked her out of her house. She initially took an instant dislike to Joan's "siddity" behavior towards Maya's style (also labeling Joan as "classist" and "egregious" as Maya does), but eventually grew to accept her. She and Maya also butt heads when she decides to sell her home to move in with her boyfriend Earl (whom Maya doesn't like). Jeanette was seen throughout Seasons 1 - 7.
• Ronnie: (played by Lamont Johnson) is Maya's cousin and hair stylist. In the series he helped sell her semi-biographical book. He owns two beauty salons called Situations and Situations Deux. He is last seen at the ending of season 7 as Aaron proposed to Joan.
• Peaches: (played by Shawn Harrison) plays Ronnie's boyfriend. He is a hair stylist at Situations and had a short stint as Joan's assistant and temporary confidante after Maya goes to work as William's secretary after William becomes Senior Partner. Peaches is last seen at the ending of season 7 as Aaron proposes to Joan.
• Davis Hamilton: (played by Randy J. Goodwin) owner and operator of the girls' favorite restaurant/hangout spot, 847 (Season 1). He and Joan flirted with each other, and almost went away for a romantic weekend while both were involved with other people. However, during Season 4, in the aftermath of Joan's breakup with Brock, she runs into Davis at a movie theater. She learns that Davis had lost the restaurant and also ended his relationship with his fiancee'. They talk about how they missed the opportunity to start a relationship, and ultimately decide to just remain friends.
• Charles Swedelson (played by Phil Reeves) - managing partner at Goldberg, Swedelson, McDonald and Lee who is also Joan's and William's supervisor. Though highly professional, he is known to have a roving eye for the ladies, and tends to use "hip-hop" euphemisms towards Joan and William to appear more laid back and sociable. Mr. Swedelson was seen throughout the entire series run.

Guest appearances[link]

Departure of Jill Marie Jones[link]

Jill Marie Jones left the show at the end of Season 6. Akil stated, "I would love for her (Jones) to come back, but Jill doesn't want to return. I don't know 100% why she made this decision. She didn't tell me. All she said when we talked was that she felt it was time for her to move on. The door is not closed. We've asked her to come back and have offered different ways for her to return. But I completely wish her well. There's no drama involved." The show will now deal with Toni's loss through Joan's struggles.

In a December 2007 interview with Wilson Morales, he asked Jill if she thought the character Toni had run her course. JMJ responded:

Richard T. Jones was featured in an early episode, which set up the premise that Aaron, a National Guard member, was called to Iraq. When AOL Black Voices columnist Jawn Murray asked Akil if "Ross' character Joan will be dumped again?" Akil responded: "Who's to say I'm getting rid of [the] Richard T. Jones [character]? Don't underestimate me!"^[6]

Episode list[link]

Special episodes[link]

* This episode aired on a Tuesday night in an attempt to boost ratings for the new sitcom Abby, which was making its first airing on its regular night.

Other details[link]

Spin-off[link]

A 2006 episode of Girlfriends entitled "The Game" featured guest star Tia Mowry as Joan's cousin Melanie Barnett, an aspiring medical student, who wants to give up her future to follow her professional athlete boyfriend to San Diego. That episode was the launching pad for The Game, a spin-off series which got canceled by The CW television network. In April 2010, BET announced that it would pick up the series for a 4th season. The 4th Season premiered January 11, 2011, and the 5th season premiered on January 2012.

U.S. television ratings[link]

Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of Girlfriends on UPN and The CW.

Note: Each U.S. network television season starts in late September and ends in late May, which coincides with the completion of May sweeps.

Cancellation[link]

The final two episodes recorded before the 2007-2008 Writers Guild strike aired back-to-back on Monday, February 11 at 9/8c. However, this was not a 2-part episode. The timeslot was planned to be moved to Sundays due to the writer's strike and the returning of The CW's reality series.^[15] On February 13, 2008, it was announced by a The CW representative that a proper series finale would not be done because it would be too expensive, also confirming the show's cancellation.^[16] A retrospective episode was to be aired on The CW Network to conclude the 8-year series. However, the characters' storylines would receive no resolutions as the retrospective/series finale did not come to pass. The network offered the actors only half of their usual episodic salary to take part, and the actors collectively turned them down.^[17]

Awards[link]

DVD releases[link]

Season Releases

U.S. broadcast history[link]

• UPN - Mondays @ 9:30 p.m./8:30C (2000–2001)
• UPN / The CW - Mondays - 9:00 p.m./8:00C (2002–2008)
• The CW - Sundays (2 Weeks) - 8:00 p.m./7:00C (2006)
  • The CW - Sundays (February 10) - 9:00 p.m./8:00C (2008)
    • The CW - Sundays - 9:30 p.m./8:30C (2008)

Worldwide broadcast information/Syndication[link]

• USA: UPN (original), The CW (official), BET (syndicated), WE TV (syndicated)
• Canada: SUN-TV (new and reruns)
• Internet: iTunes
• Australia: Formerly on Channel Nine
• Germany: NICK Comedy; Comedy Central
• Middle East: Showtime=Showcomedy
• Netherlands: RTL 8 since 2009
• Portugal: 2
• Thailand: Formerly on UBC Series
• United Kingdom: Trouble, Paramount Comedy Channel
• South Africa: SABC 1, M-Net Series

• Jamaica : Television Jamaica

Soundtrack[link]

Track listing[link]

1. Erykah Badu - "Vibrate On" (4:14)
2. Jill Scott - "Golden" (3:52)
3. Angie Stone - "Wish I Didn't Miss You" (4:32)
4. Corinne Bailey Rae - "Put Your Records On" (3:35)
5. Algebra - "I Know" (3:57)
6. Amy Winehouse - "Stronger Than Me" (3:42)
7. Estelle - "All Comes Back to You" (3:22)
8. Chrisette Michele - "Girl Respect Yourself" (3:44)
9. Chaka Khan - "Disrepectful" [Feat. Mary J. Blige] (4:46)
10. India.Arie - "I Am Not My Hair" (3:48)
11. Dre - "Soulmate" (4:22)
12. Persia White - "Choices" (2:47)

References[link]

Sources[link]

• "Girlfriends: Show Summary". TV.COM. http://www.tv.com/girlfriends/show/278/summary.html. 
• Ferguson, Douglas. "History of TV Prime Time". Personal Webpage, Department of Communication, College of Charleston. http://fergusond.people.cofc.edu/bcp/scheds.htm. 

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Girlfriends

External links[link]

• Girlfriends site on HHE Paramount
• Syndication info. on CBS TV Distribution site
• Girlfriends at the Internet Movie Database
• Girlfriends at TV.com
• Girlfriends at epguides.com

Chantal Chamandy (born at Alexandria, Egypt)^[1] is a Canadian singer and entertainer based in Montreal, Quebec. She previously performed under the names Chantal Condor and Chantal.

Career[link]

Her first success was as part of Voggue, a disco duo she formed with Angela Songui. In 1980, the duo released its first self-titled album, which contains the singles "Love Buzz", "Here We Are" and their most successful single, "Dancin' the Night Away". In 1983, a second album was released on Matra Records, containing the singles "I Want To Dance" and "Sunstruck Lovers". Voggue disbanded in 1984.

After Voggue, she recorded as a solo act. She released the single "Hands Up" in 1985 on Epic Records using her full name Chantal Condor. The song would be remade by Canadian trio Sway in 1987 and become a big Canadian hit. The single led to an album deal with the label, and she released the album Chantal Condor in 1986. Her style was sometimes described as Italo disco. Off the album came the singles "Marinero" (backed with "Don't You Want My Love") and "Nightmare". She received a Juno Award nomination in 1986 for Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year,^[2][3] but lost to Kim Richardson.

In 1989, she dropped use of her last name, releasing Chantal, on the Columbia Records label. The single "A Little Lovin'" became her only charting single on Canada's RPM 100 Singles chart. In 1991 she became a member of the French-Canadian dance quartet Collage and appeared on their first and only album, but soon left the group. They then became a trio and the album was re-released without Chantal on the cover.

She did not release new material again until 2006, when she released a series of singles on her own independent label Ninemuse. She also used a number of unconventional strategies to get her name and material back into the public eye, including a self-financed marketing campaign on public transit and selling her single "Feels Like Love" for $1 a copy in the Dollarama chain of dollar stores, which resulted in the single selling over 10,000 copies and being picked up for sale in conventional record stores.^[1] She released Love Needs You, her first new album since 1989, later the same year. "Feels Like Love" received some airplay on U.S. Adult Contemporary radio.

On 7 September 2007, she performed a concert in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in conjunction with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra.^[4] That performance was released on album and DVD in 2008 as Beladi, and was also made available for broadcast on PBS in the United States.

Chamandy is also credited with some small appearances in Canadian films.

Albums[link]

• Chantal Condor (1986)
• Chantal (1989)
• Love Needs You (August 15, 2006)
• Beladi (2008)

Singles[link]

• "Hands Up" (1985)
• "Marinero" (1986)
• "Nightmare" (1986)
• "A Little Lovin'" (1989)
• "Angel In Your Eyes" (1989)
• "You Want Me" (January 1, 2006)
• "Feels Like Love" (August 8, 2006)

[edit] Chantal album (1989)

List of track titles (writers) - Chantal performs lead vocals for all songs, unless noted otherwise.

• "A Little Lovin'" (Brian Macleod)
• "Angel in Your Eyes" (Brian Macleod)
• "Don't You Want My Love" (Aldo Nova)
• "Can't Dance Forever" (Ken LeRay)
• "Let Me Be the One" (Peter Wood, Chantal) - Duet with Chantal and Michael Ruff
• "Sometimes Love Can Heal a Broken Heart" (Peter Wood, Chantal)
• "Imagination" (Ross, Bayyan)
• "You've Got Potential" (Michael Jay, Alan Scott)
• "Some Kind of Magic" (M. Mangold, Aldo Nova)
• "Ready or Note?" (Peter Wood, Chantal)
• "Bells" (D. Allen, R. Van Hoy, M. Humpris)

Chantal was produced by Peter Wood

DVDs[link]

• Beladi: A Night at The Pyramids (2008)

Filmography[link]

• Scanners III: The Takeover (1992) - Female Guest. One of the sequels to Scanners
• Crazy Moon (1987) - Cleveland's Girlfriend
• Wednesday's Children: Robert (1987) (Short film)
• Miles to Go (1986) (TV movie) - Meg
• Discussions in Bioethics: Critical Choice (1985) (Short film)

References[link]

1. ^ ^{a b} Henry, Michele (1 April 2007). "She's not a million-seller, but singer Chantal Chamandy is at least a star in transit". Toronto Star. http://www.thestar.com/article/198209. 
2. ^ Griffin, John, "Adams is best Juno bet; Vancouver rocker a cinch as Male Vocalist of Year", The Gazette (Montreal), November 6, 1986. pg. F.1
3. ^ "Past Winners Database: 1986 17th Juno Awards", The Envelope of the Los Angeles Times; URL accessed May 23, 2006.
4. ^ "French director Gerard Pullicino to direct show developed for PBS - Montreal singer-songwriter Chantal Chamandy to perform before the pyramids in Egypt on September 7"

External links[link]

• Chantal Chamandy's official website
• Chantal Chamandy on Virb
• Chantal Chamandy's Myspace
• Ninemuse's website
• Chantal Condor at the Internet Movie Database
• Chantal Condor at Discogs
• Chantal (album) at Discogs
• "Marinero / Don't You Want My Love" at Discogs
• "Dancin' the Night Away" at Allmusic

This article's lead section may not adequately summarize its contents. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of the article's key points. (July 2009)

WAGs (or Wags) is an acronym, used particularly by the British tabloid press, to describe the wives and girlfriends of high-profile footballers, originally the England national football team. The term came into common use during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, although it had been used occasionally before that.^{[citation needed]} The acronym has since been used by the media in other countries to describe the wives and girlfriends of sportsmen in general.

Lexicography[link]

This article may contain original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding references. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. More details may be available on the talk page. (November 2008)

The first recorded use of the term was in 2002: "It was never guaranteed that the wives and girlfriends (or "the Wags", as staff at the Jumeirah Beach Club call them for short) would get along. Mrs Beckham's tongue, for one thing, has previously run away with itself."^[1]

In 2006 it was generally printed as "WAGs", but a singular, "Wag" or "WAG", quickly came into vogue (even though the singular form would logically be "wife or girlfriend", reading as "WOG"); for example: "any additional pounds she gained during Wag drinking sessions";^[2] "a property heiress, model and actress, appears a likely sports WAG".^[3] Susie Dent's annual Language Report for the Oxford University Press (2006) capitalised the entire acronym as "WAG" ("wife and/or girlfriend") .^[4]

"WAG"/"wag" came also to be used somewhat tautologically ("deluxe-edition Wag girlfriend"^[5]) and increasingly in non-footballing contexts: for example, the first wife of comedian Peter Cook (1937–95) was described as a "Sixties Wag"^[6] and actress Jennifer Ellison, because of her former choice of clothes, "once ... the epitome of a Wag".^[7] Fashion writer Shane Watson coined a collective noun, "waggery".^[8] One can also be "Wagged"

This type of acronym is of long-standing in British English. For example, during the Second World War, a series of County War Agricultural Executive Committees or CWAECs was known widely as "War Ags".^[9]

2006 World Cup[link]

During the 2006 World Cup the press gave increasing coverage to the socialising and shopping activities of the English WAGs, who were based in the German town of Baden Baden. It was frequently suggested that England's exit from the tournament in the quarterfinals was a result of such distractions.

Prominent WAGs of that year included Victoria Beckham, wife of then England captain David Beckham, whom the New Yorker described as "Queen of the Wags"^[10] and the Sunday Times as "the original Wag";^[11] Cheryl Cole, née Tweedy, of the group Girls Aloud, who shortly afterwards married Ashley Cole ("Wag weds"^[12]), from whom she was divorced in 2010; Coleen Rooney, née Mcloughlin, who married Wayne Rooney in June 2008 and who was variously described as a "chavette", by The Sun a "super WAG"^[13] and, by the end of the year, listed by the Times as a "national treasure";^[14] and fitness instructor Carly Cole née Zucker, wife of Joe Cole, described by Susie Whally in the Sunday Times as a "new WAG on the block [who] has set the tone for the season's most wanted muscles".^[15] Other WAGs that aroused considerable interest included Melanie Slade, due to her relative youth – she was an A-level student at the time – girlfriend of Theo Walcott, who, at seventeen, was himself the youngest member of the England squad; Abbey Clancy, girlfriend of Peter Crouch; Steven Gerrard's fiance Alex Curran, a model frequently featured in tabloids and fashion magazines; and former Spanish waitress Elen Rives, the then fiancée of Frank Lampard.

Nancy Dell'Olio, an Italian property lawyer who was the girlfriend of the then England coach Sven-Göran Eriksson, enjoyed quite a high public profile of her own, partly as a result of long-running press interest in aspects of Eriksson's private life.

Political comparisons[link]

The WAGs' activities did however provide a "benchmark" of sorts. A Labour member of the UK Parliament, Denis MacShane, described the Conservative Party's summer ball of 2006 (for which tickets cost £400) as "mak[ing] the WAGs of Baden Baden look like the Bloomsbury set",^[16] a comparison with the "Bohemian" artistic group of the early 20th century that grew up initially around sisters Vanessa Bell and Virginia Woolf.

Leo Beckett, husband of British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett was described as the "political equivalent of a WAG" because of the extent to which he accompanied his wife on official business.^[17]

Implications for fashion[link]

Fashion writers of 2006 identified certain consequences of what Lisa Armstrong described as "WAG fall-out"^[18] and Tina Gaudoin as "Waglash".^[19] These were mostly the implications of "over-exposure" of certain styles: for example, that the Hermès "Birkin" bag had become less desirable as a result of being de rigueur among WAGs in Baden-Baden^[20] (a development dubbed by Shane Watson as "baglash"^[21]); or that reaction to WAGs’ excessively coiffed hair and "vacant perfection" had perhaps been the "tipping point" for a revival of fashions of the 1980s, commended by Armstrong as "the last era of anti-slick".^[18]

Armstrong also assured readers who wished to perfect the elements of "beach chic" that the use of denture cleaner to whiten the tips of nails would not make them "look like a WAG",^[22] while her colleague Sarah Vine offered advice on "buying some nice perfume that won't make you smell like a WAG on heat".^[22] When it was reported, in 2007, that Coleen Rooney would be launching a range of beauty products, London Lite coined the term, "eau de wag" and asked, "who, tell us, who really wants to smell like Coleen McLoughlin?"^[23]

Wannabes[link]

However, some women did aspire to the "WAG" look. Mrs Rooney noted that "apparently more and more women are getting into debt because they try to shop and party like a footballer's wife. If I heard of anyone doing that, I'd tell them to get a grip".^[24] Sunday Times columnist India Knight observed, while waiting in an airport queue, that "it's as if a low-level wannabe footballer's wife vibe that is neither aesthetically pleasing nor edifying has become the norm ... I saw this phenomenon en masse".^[25] Among other features, Knight identified "enough pink glitter to satisfy the girliest of five-year-olds", massive handbags and huge designer sunglasses.

Reflecting on sunglasses as an accessory, Sunday Times Style's senior fashion writer Colin McDowell suggested that, whereas women had been sure that the poise of Jacqueline Kennedy (1929–94) and Audrey Hepburn (1929–93), style icons of the mid-20th century, had been due to their shading their eyes, "Wags ... far from using dark glasses to encourage others to leave them alone, treat them as a weapon to attract and excite the paparazzi".^[26]

Antecedents[link]

Interest in the partners of footballers dates back at least to the late 1950s when the long-serving England captain Billy Wright married the singer Joy Beverley. By the late 1960s, then-captain Bobby Moore (1941–93) and his first wife Tina had become regarded as a stylish and "golden" couple. During the 1970 World Cup in Mexico the England manager Sir Alf Ramsey (1920–99) expressed concern at the effects on the team's cohesion of the presence of the wives of four players,^[27] a view that seems to have been shared by some other members of the squad.^[28] England's quarter-final defeat by West Germany in that competition has been widely attributed to goalkeeping lapses by Peter Bonetti, whose pre-match nerves were thought by many, including Ramsey himself, to have been accentuated by rumours circulating about the alleged behaviour of his wife Frances.^[28] By contrast, during the 1966 World Cup, their wives drove themselves to Wembley and the FA booked them a single function room in the Royal Garden Hotel at Kensington.

Interest in such partnerships scaled new heights in the late 1990s and early 21st century with the marriage (in 1999) of David Beckham to singer Victoria Adams ("Posh Spice") of the Spice Girls. The couple were widely known as "Posh and Becks" and every aspect of their relationship and nuance of dress were subjected to scrutiny in the press and other media. Victoria Beckham was quoted as saying that she and her husband had "so many wider interests ... fashion, make-up. I mean you think, yeah, football's great, and singing's great. But you've got to look at the bigger picture".^[29]

Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane had lashed out at footballers' wives and girlfriends, as well as their lavish lifestyle, during their trophyless season in 2001–2002. Keane blamed United's loss of form on some of his team-mates' fixation with wealth, claiming that they had "forgot about the game, lost the hunger that got you the Rolex, the cars, the mansion." Earlier in the season, Keane had publicly advocated the break-up of the Treble-winning team^[30] as he believed the team-mates who had played in United's victorious 1999 Champions League final no longer had the motivation to work as hard.^[31][32] When Keane became manager of Sunderland A.F.C, he complained about the difficulty signing players to the city in northeast England, as their wives or girlfriends insisted they only move to teams based in London. He remarked "If someone doesn't want to come to Sunderland then all well and good," Keane said. "But if they don't want to come to Sunderland because their wife wants to go shopping in London, then it is a sad state of affairs. Unfortunately that is what is influencing a lot of footballers' decisions. Priorities have changed for footballers and they are being dictated to by their wives and girlfriends."^[33]

[edit] Footballers' Wives

It was widely assumed that perceptions of the lifestyle of Victoria Beckham influenced the ITV drama series Footballers' Wives (2002) and in particular the character of Chardonnay Lane-Pascoe (played by Susie Amy). The term "footballer's wife" came to be associated with a spouse leading a "high" life of socialising and shopping. Alf Ramsey, who thought the role of a footballer's wife essentially that of a housewife,^[34] had once observed that he "didn't know much about women and the only women I know are footballers' wives". However, as his biographer noted, this remark was made "at a time when the phrase 'footballers' wives' had yet to become the embodiment of predatory lust."^[28]

Broadly speaking "Footballer's wife" and "WAG" were synonymous, but the latter was more generic, while the former connoted someone who seemed particularly pampered, perhaps with some of the characteristics also of an "Essex girl".

During the 2005–6 season the actress Joanna Taylor, wife of Fulham midfielder Danny Murphy, wrote a regular column for the Times whose title, "Footballer's Wife", was no doubt partially ironic.

"Jamelia" categorisation[link]

Undoubtedly the "WAG" image of shopping and clubbing, as portrayed in the press in 2006, tended to stick. This led some WAGs, such as Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole, to reject the eponym and to emphasise their credentials as career women in their own right.^[35]

The singer Jamelia (whose footballer boyfriend, Darren Byfield of Bristol City, played for Jamaica, which failed to qualify for the 2006 World Cup) drew a distinction between, on the one hand, those WAGs, such as Victoria Beckham, who are "businesswoman", and Cole and Rooney, who "have a job", and, on the other, those who, in her view, had the wrong "priorities" and simply spent their boyfriends' money.^[36] This categorisation had some similarities both with Lisa Armstrong's comparison of supermodels with WAGs and with the suggested "WAG"/"footballers' wife" distinction. Indeed it is possible to argue that, over the two-month period of 2006 that the WAGs were in the public spotlight, a subtle distinction emerged between "WAG" as a general acronym and the increasingly used "Wag" in the colloquial sense of a "footballer's wife".

[edit] WAGs Boutique

In January 2007 a "reality" television series called WAGs Boutique (ITV2) was launched. This featured two teams of WAGs (few of whom had been among the party in Baden Baden the previous year) who competed to run fashion boutiques over a period of three months. The separation of one of the contenders, Michaela Henderson-Thynne, from her erstwhile partner, Middlesbrough midfielder Stewart Downing, raised some issues of principle and terminology. Giles Smith in the Times enquired whether "one can still be registered as a WAG after one has separated from one's footballer?"^[37] Smith noted also that a former beauty queen and controversial Celebrity Big Brother contestant, Danielle Lloyd, whose relationship with West Ham United's Teddy Sheringham was "less than concrete", was referred to, during a guest appearance on WAGs Boutique, as "an on-off WAG". Smith wondered whether, in those moments when a woman was an "off-WAG", she was really a WAG at all.^[38] London Lite referred to Henderson-Thynne and Cassie Sumner, a WAGs Boutique participant whose supposed relationship with Michael Essien was the subject of some doubt, as "fake WAGs".^[39]

Spin-offs[link]

[edit] Les Wags and die WAGs

Cheryl Cole (née Tweedy), singer with Girls Aloud

As if to emphasise the perceptive opinion of former England full-back Jimmy Armfield that there was "a real international flavour to this World Cup",^[40] the Sunday Times published during the 2006 tournament a photograph of the wives of French players Thierry Henry and David Trézéguet with the caption "French Wags Nicole Henry and Beatrice Trezeguet share a smacker [i.e. kiss]".^[41]

For its part, the French press referred to the English wives and girlfriends ("les épouses et petites amies des joueurs") as "les Wags": "Et lorsque les Wags ont fini leur shopping ..." [And when the Wags had finished their shopping].^[42] Similarly, in German, "die WAGs" was adopted. Austria's Seitenblicke, for example, carried a story "Ich bin keine WAG!" in German about Cheryl Cole's apparent disclaiming of the appellation of "WAG": "Ich war bei 'Girls Aloud' bevor ich Ashley [Cole] kennenlernte ..." [I was with Girls Aloud before I met Ashley].^[43][44]

Father of the girlfriend of a footballer[link]

When the father of Melanie Slade (Theo Walcott's girlfriend), Councillor John Slade, was installed as Mayor of Southampton, Hampshire on 17 May 2006, he was introduced by a fellow councillor, Alec Samuels, as "about the most famous mayor this city has had in 790 years ... He is the father of the girlfriend of a footballer".^[45]

LA WAGs[link]

When it was announced in 2007 that David Beckham would be joining the American club Los Angeles Galaxy, the Mail on Sunday referred to the "LA WAGs whose husbands earn less in ten years than Beckham in one week". The Mail claimed that these WAGs, who included actress Bianca Kajlich, were "stay-at-home girls" who "possess not a Chloé dress, a Prada handbag or a Manolo Blahnik shoe between them. And they are awaiting the arrival of Victoria Beckham with some trepidation".^[46]

Non-footballing WAGs[link]

Lawn tennis[link]

During the course of the World Cup, the Times coined the term "WWAGs" ("Wimbledon Wives and Girlfriends") for the girlfriends of male participants in the All-England Lawn Tennis Championships in 2006.^[3] The most photographed WWAG in the British press during the tournament of 2006 was Kim Sears, the girlfriend of Scottish player Andy Murray. Sears is the daughter of Nigel Sears, former coach of the Slovak player Daniela Hantuchová.

The Sun used an alternative form, "WOWs" ("Wives of Wimbledon"), to draw attention to photographs of such "girls with WOW factor" as the Australian actress, Bec Hewitt, née Cartwright, wife of Lleyton Hewitt, Wimbledon champion in 2002.^[47]

Golf[link]

Interest in the private lives of golfers has been popular in the tabloids since the relationships of Nick Faldo and Tony Jacklin, though not to the extent of footballers; one golf relationship that received substantial tabloid coverage was the marriage of Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren, which ended after even more widely publicised revelations of Woods' serial infidelity. Jacklin, who was then widowed at the time in 1988 had a date with a teenage girl, who then sold the story to The Sun newspapers. Faldo is best remembered in the frontpage outside of sports, in 1998, having his Porsche 959 trashed by an ex-girlfriend with his golf clubs.

The term "wives and girlfriends" (in unabbreviated term) was commonly used during the Ryder Cup golfing competitions at The Belfry in 2002 and Oakland Hills near Detroit in 2004, the press having given these partners about as much coverage as the golfers themselves, due to the patriotic competitive nature of the sport which extends to themselves. London Lite^[48] and Metro^[49] used the slightly patronising acronym "WABs" ("wives and birdies", the latter a pun on the term for a one under par score for a hole) with reference to the partners of the European team as they arrived in Ireland for the 2006 Ryder Cup at The K Club, Straffan, County Kildare.

Cricket[link]

"CWAGs" (Cricket Wives and Girlfriends) was applied to partners of the England cricket team in the series of test matches against Australia that began in Brisbane, Queensland in November 2006: for example, "Jessica the Cwag knocks Ashes Test crowd for six"^[50] (the subject of this headline being singer Jessica Taylor, of the group Liberty X, fiancée of batsman and occasional off-spinner Kevin Pietersen). Although "CWAG" (rather than "WAG") was not used all that widely, there were predictable claims after England had lost the series 5–0 that the presence of wives and girlfriends had undermined the cohesion of the touring party.^[51] "WAG" had previously been applied in the context of cricket: for example to model Minki van der Westhuizen, who had been associated with the South African captain, Graeme Smith.^[52]

More recently, the Australian media has started to use the "WAG" term to describe the partners of their own cricket team. See Australian Cricket WAGs.

British Royal Family[link]

In July 2006 The Sun carried an article on the "RAGs" ("Royals and Girlfriends"), a term introduced for young female members of the British Royal Family, as well as Kate Middleton, then girlfriend and now wife of Prince William, and Chelsy Davy, girlfriend of Prince Harry.^[53] Others identified as "RAGs" were Princess Beatrice, Princess Eugenie, champion equestrian eventer Zara Phillips, and Lady Gabriella Windsor.^[54] Subsequently, under the heading "Windsor Mads outdo the Wags", Jasper Gerard reported in the Sunday Times on festivities involving "the Windsor Mads (mothers and daughters), as Fergie [Sarah, Duchess of York] and Eugenie celebrated Beatrice's forthcoming 18th birthday".^[55]

Motor racing[link]

Though the term has never been used, many high profile sportsmen in motor racing have publicly enjoyed high profile relationships with celebrities, for instance Jacques Villeneuve's relationship with Dannii Minogue and the marriage of Dario Franchitti and Ashley Judd.

One example of a well known wife of a sportsman is Michaela Fogarty, the wife of former Superbike World Championship star Carl. At the height of her husband's fame, she has been photographed in pit and paddock areas and has also appeared in print advertisements for Ducati motorcycles, which her husband has ridden for. Despite never appearing in the spotlight, much of her popularity is within the motorcycling fraternity, as she is known for her support of her husband. The two have even appeared in a series which they embark on an adventure riding.

Other acronyms[link]

Other imitative acronyms to emerge in 2006 included:

[edit] Private Eye

In an irreverent parody – "Those World Cup Acronyms in Full" – the satirical magazine Private Eye (which had, among other things, imagined a table-top game, with a Gucci ball, called "Subbuteo Footballers' Wives" and referred to Coleen (McLoughlin) Rooney as "Noleen McCleavage"^[61]) offered such additional terms as "SHAGS" ("unofficial girlfriends whose numbers appear on footballers' mobile phones") and "GAGS" ("Writs served by footballers accused of relationships with SHAGS").^[62] Both of these were allusions to rumours two years earlier about the private life of an England international player.

Following the weddings of four England players in a single weekend in 2007, the Eye's "Glenda Slagg" column referred jokingly to "SLAGS": "that's 'Stupid Lazy and Grasping Slappers' – Geddit?!?".^[63]

Criticism[link]

This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the section's contents into the article as a whole, or rewrite the material. (October 2009)

In an October 2008 press conference, England and Manchester United footballer Rio Ferdinand heavily criticised the WAGS culture, particularly in Baden-Baden two years previously, calling it a "circus" and giving praise to new England manager Fabio Capello's more disciplined regime,^[64] and after England had qualified for the 2010 World Cup by beating Croatia 5–1, Capello made his first public comment on the WAGs by making it clear that the England players will only be able to see their wives and partners the day after a match, stating that "We are there to play, not for a holiday".^[65]

Popular culture[link]

Like many cultural trends or coined phrases, references to WAGs have appeared in popular culture. In the Estelle song "American Boy", Kanye West raps the lyrics; "But I still talk that ca-a-sh, Cuz a lotta WAGS wanna hear it".^[66] Two novels have been published about WAGs. The first, A Wag's Diary, was released in October 2007, published by Harper Collins; the second, A Wag's Diary in LA, was published in June 2008. Both books are written by Alison Kervin. Also is in the song Golddigger by the Dolly Rockers – "there is a WAG in every mag."

See also[link]

• Trophy wife

References[link]

Tony Kornheiser used the term "wag" on 5 Feb 2010 episode of PTI on ESPN.

Chwags

A Chwag is a nickname to describe the wives and girlfriends of the choir of The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge.

External links[link]

• WAG Rankings, where users rate WAGs from every major sport.
• AOL's WAGs pictures
• Hot Sports WAGS
• Interview with Coleen Rooney
• Interview with Coleen Rooney's biographer Sue Evison
• World Cup Wags – Gossip site with all the latest WAG pictures and Stories relating to Football WAGS