Neville Southall has posted a defiant message on Twitter, following a bizarre Twitter takeover by a woman who runs a nursery for “adult babies”.
Grace Rogers, a “professional mummy” from Nottingham, took control of the ex-Everton player’s social media on Wednesday in a bid to “give voice to littles” and the adult baby/“diaper lovers” community.
Southhall, 59, has 144,000 followers on his Twitter account and regularly hands over the reigns on his account.
But as he usually hands control over to charities or campaigners, his followers were suitably stunned by this move and the former footballer’s name was soon trending on the site.
It seems he may not have been pleased with the attention and tweeting on Wednesday evening, Southall wrote: “Just to be clear I do what I like on my twitter. My decision. My choice. I don’t need a break.
“When I do take overs it’s because I want to I am not campaigner. There are some I want to do if you don’t like them. Block me. You can mock but you cannot stop me.”
Rogers, who had a profile on Fetlife, a social network for the BDSM and fetish community, says in her Twitter bio she provides “non-fetish therapeutic care” to her clients. On her website, she describes herself as a psychotherapist.
A pinned tweet on Big Nev’s profile states views and content expressed during takeovers “do not reflect or represent” his own.
The tweets, which have now been deleted, looked like this:
The tweets immediately caught people’s attention. James Chalmers (@ProfChalmers) wrote: “I hope we can at least agree that Neville Southall’s account is definitely succeeding in giving a voice to communities you don’t hear much about on here.”
Others described it as “a magnificent curveball”.
For reasons that are unclear, the “adult babies takeover” finished abruptly 12 minutes after it started.
HuffPost UK has contacted “Mummy Grace” and Neville Southall for comment.
Southall’s Twitter takeovers are managed by Asha Iqbal, who “clarified” on her own Twitter, @_socialdrone, that it was not her but the former footballer who chooses them.
She told HuffPost UK she did not want to comment further on the adult baby theme.
Recent takeovers include a woman raising awareness of suicide bereavement, bone marrow donation and Klinefelter’s Syndrome.
In April 2018, Southall handed over the reigns to his account to a sex workers’ collective, who posted about subjects including brothel-keeping.
Following the takeover, “Mummy Grace” continued to tweet from her own account – nearly 80 times in 20 minutes – about the adult baby lifestyle.
Her website (over 18s only) has sections including the Story of Little, What to expect on a visit, testimonials and a photo gallery.
Rogers, who has a strict application process and can take no new clients until next year, offers playing, feeding, jokes and “huggles”.