Shakira, Georgina, Rachel Kolisi: see who wins the Battle of the WAGS

While the action on the pitches and tracks that their beaus play on draws in billions, WAGs (wives and girlfriends) of sports stars often duke it out in tabloids, Instagram posts and reality TV.

When they are not embroiled in scandals, these loving go-getters turn heads in their respective fields of work.

With Formula One, rugby and soccer in the spotlight, we look at which sport has the best WAGs when it comes to social media, earnings and news that keeps people talking.

SOCCER

HIGHEST EARNER

Few WAGs can hold a candle to the OG herself. Famed for losing her smile to fashion, Posh as she is affectionately known was already an established powerhouse before marrying British footballer David Beckham. The Sunday Times rich list (2022) reported that the power couple has a £380m (R8.8bn) combined net worth.

Victoria runs a successful high-end brand commonly seen on the runways of London and Paris.

MOST FOLLOWED

While her long-term partner Cristiano Ronaldo has racked up fame beyond his skills on a soccer field, Georgina has ascended to unprecedented internet stardom in the past couple of years.

Other than her history as a classically trained ballerina, Georgina has blown up in Instagram, earning her a whopping 51.4-million followers. This has helped her work with beloved brands such as Chanel and Gucci as well as filming two seasons of her Netflix reality series, I Am Georgina.

HEADLINER

While the feud between football WAGs Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy, dubbed Wagatha Christy, last year's Fifa World Cup had all eyes on Grammy-winning sensation Shakira and her break-up with Gerard Piqué.

The pair often made headlines for their constant fights and never-wedding, with Shakira calling him her “my poor husband, slash boyfriend, slash baby daddy, whatever you want to call him”, in a podcast interview. She called their relationship “the darkest hours” of her life in an interview with Elle Magazine.

One of the biggest shockers was the house debacle, with reports claiming she built a wall to separate herself from Piqué once he started dating again.

She released two songs after the break-up, one lamenting their relationship and another a jab at Piqué.

RUGBY

HIGHEST EARNER

Team work truly makes the dream work for WAG networths as seen with Zara Tindall who is estimated by The Sun to have a combined earning of £15.7m (R365.6m) with her husband, Mike Tindall. Though part of the royal family, her children do not have royal titles — Zara is 21st in line to the crown.

MOST FOLLOWED & HEADLINER

With a bevy of influencers and reality stars to contend with, Rachel Kolisi leads the competition with 357,000 Instagram followers. Her content centres mostly around her family, including moments from the Siya Kolisi Foundation.

Kolisi is famous for her quick wit, especially when it comes to detractors who would win her a Feather Award nomination for Drama Queen of the Year. She also landed in hot water when she got her followers to scour the internet for a woman who had sent Siya Kolisi nudes of herself.

FORMULA ONE

HIGHEST EARNER

No stranger to racing tracks, Kelly Piquet, the partner of Formual One World Champion Max Verstappen, was born into a family in the fast lane with her father Nelson Piquet being a three-time F1 World Champion. The well-travelled star was always on the go before settling to study international relations in the US, which led her to a career path in journalism, working with Vogue Latinoamérica, Marie Claire and eventually heading Formula E's social media in 2015.

The only official record of her earnings can be found on digital sports hub Essentially Sports who claims her net worth is about $1m (R18.7m).

MOST FOLLOWED

Not new to the world of WAGs, Magui Corceiro has been linked to footballers Joao Felix and Pedro Porro and Lando Norris, of the F1 world, and puts her at the top of F1's most followed with more than 1.6-million followers. 

HEADLINER

Making two appearances on our list after leaving her soccer hubby, Shakira has been recently linked to F1's Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes fame. The last high-profile singer Lewis was entangled with was Pussycat Dolls frontwoman Nicole Scherzinger.

Shakira and Hamilton have caused much buzz and fanfare over the rumours of their relationship, with sources claiming it is still fun and flirty to People. No wonder the tabloids cannot get enough of the pair's adventures.