Inside Declan Rice's eight-year relationship with Lauren Fryer

Declan Rice has been flying high in his football career since joining Arsenal in summer 2022, following a stint at West Ham.

And the England midfielder's childhood sweetheart Lauren Fryer has been by his side throughout it all.

The couple - who keep most of their relationship private - have been together for eight-years and welcomed their first child in August 2022.

During Declan's summer break, the pair enjoy romantic getaways, trips to Glastonbury and precious family time.

But since then, Lauren has deleted all of her Instagram pictures after receiving a barrage of abuse online over her appearance.

Here, MailOnline takes a look inside Declan and Lauren's private relationship.

How did they meet?

The pair started dating when they were both just 17 having first met at school.

Lauren, 25, is frequently spotted in the stands supporting Declan, also 25, on the pitch during games.

Despite being romantically involved for nearly eight years, the couple prefer to conduct their relationship away from the public eye.

However, they did let their hair down during a rare public appearance at the Reading Festival in 2021.

They were pictured rubbing shoulders with notorious former Oasis hellraiser Liam Gallagher following his headline performance at the annual event.

Where do they live?

The couple live together in London, where they are keen to stay long-term, as Declan currently plays for Arsenal.

He also has a house in Kingston-Upon-Thames where he and Lauren grew up.

Do they have kids?

In August 2022, he appeared to confirm the birth of his first child with partner Lauren by revealing a tattoo dedicated to a newborn boy during a game when he played for West Ham United.

He prompted speculation at the time that he had welcomed a son, named Jude, with his long-term girlfriend earlier that month by exposing a tattoo of the child's name and apparent birth date - August 7.

Jude's star-sign, Leo - characterised as a symbol of self-confidence and attractiveness - also featured within the delicate inking on then West Ham captain Rice's lower left arm.

To public knowledge, Jude is their only child.

The couple also have a dog - Raffa the pooch - which Rice gifted Lauren for Christmas one year.

It's believed the couple welcomed the cute pup into their after a romantic trip to Paris.

Football

Lauren is often pictured in the stands supporting Declan with their 20-month-old son Jude

He previously admitted that Lauren is jealous of his bond with Chelsea ace Mason Mount - a childhood friend from their time together at the west London club's academy.

He told The Sun: 'My missus is quite worried. I’m genuinely being serious. She’s quite worried. Oh she’s just always: "You two... you love him more than you love me".

'Honestly. We just get it in the neck all the time. But they need to understand the friendship.'

The footballer joined the famed West Ham Academy as a child and studied at the Robert Clack School, in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, the largest secondary school in Europe.

When he was crowned Young Player of the Year at the London Football Awards, she wrote on social media: 'Couldn't be more proud of my Dec winning young player of the year. You deserve everything and more.'

Social media and horrendous trolling

Declan's long-term girlfriend Lauren Fryer has deleted all of her Instagram pictures after receiving a barrage of abuse online over her appearance.

Lauren, 25, who is the childhood sweetheart of Arsenal player Declan Rice, also 25, wiped all posts from her Instagram page in recent days after finding herself the target of cruel online trolls.

She was taunted for her appearance, with the bullying first starting in December last year when an anonymous account told England international team member Declan he 'could do better'.

Recently, Declan was told he had 'low standards' for being in a relationship with Lauren, who is the mother to their 20-month-old son, Jude.

While Lauren still has 64,000 followers on Instagram and has kept her profile public rather than private, she has deleted all her pictures and videos amid the abuse, prompting reality star Liberty Poole , 24, to speak out.

Television personality Liberty, who appeared on the seventh series of Love Island in 2022 and Love Island All Stars earlier this year, wrote on her Instagram Stories: 'I think she's beautiful this is crazy.

'What happened to celebrating different body types and embracing how we are all individually made.

'Beauty standards these days are unrealistic and everyone's gone mad because of social media.

'I'm going to keep preaching about it till I die. Time for change, this can't continue.'

In December fans rushed to Lauren's defence after a vile troll posted about Declan's 'low standards'.

The account which posted the tweet has since been suspended after hundreds criticised the troll.

'Declan Rice is a successful, professional football player. He has a beautiful girlfriend who he has been with since they were both 17. They are also the parents to a beautiful child. He is happy and blessed,' one user wrote in a tweet that went viral, while others called the troll 'a disgrace to this fanbase.'

More recently a false claim circulated online claiming that Declan defended Lauren during a press conference, which has only led to more focus on the couple's relationship.