TARA MAE KIRK has revealed that she felt “sexualised” after her move to Peterborough Women led to becoming a viral sensation.
The striker, 22, joined Posh from Leicester in 2022 and quickly found herself in the spotlight thanks to making a prolific start in her new surroundings.
Kirk found the net 12 times in her debut season as Peterborough finished fourth in the Women’s National League.
And goal graphics posted by the club on X regularly attracted more than FIVE MILLION views.
But Kirk realised that comments focused on her appearance instead of her performances on the pitch – which she feels crossed the line.
The lethal forward told talkSPORT’s The Kick Back: “I never imagined the reactions that I’ve got from scoring goals. That’s my position. That’s what you’re meant to do.
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“There’s always so much spotlight on strikers. But I think when everything hit me was when the first week I’d get five million views, and then the second week I got five million. And then the third week, I got five million.
“I think it was five, six consecutive weeks where I got five million views in a row. And I didn’t, in the moment, understand the hype or whatever.
“As it went on, I thought it was all just kind of a fluke, or have they got the right person? Like, what’s all these comments about? And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s just one week. It’s not gonna happen again’.
“It’s just hype. Everything dies so quickly on social media. And then it just kept happening. I was going through the comments and trying to understand what all this hype is.
“I understood quickly that it was positive, but also crossing the line of borderline being sexist and sexualising me.
“So, yeah, it’s kind of balancing the good with the bad. That’s what I’ve had to learn.”
Peterborough were forced to delete some of their graphics in a bid to protect player welfare after being inundated with comments about Kirk’s looks.
And she has become a cult figure in the women’s football world at the same time as keeping herself busy away from the pitch.
Kirk, who earned an international call-up with the Republic of Ireland at the age of 16, jets off around the world when she is not getting her name on the scoresheet and also graduated from Loughborough University.