Lioness Mary Earps becomes the first female footballer to get a wax figure at Madame Tussauds

• e-mail

England goalkeeper Mary Earps has become the first professional female footballer to have a wax figure at Madame Tussauds London and hopes it will 'break barriers and push boundaries'.

Members of the public, who took part in a national competition held by the attraction, voted for the goalkeeper to be 'immortalised' following the Lionesses' success in reaching the final of the 2023 Fifa Women's World Cup.

Earps, 31, who was vice-captain at the World Cup and received the Golden Glove award for best goalkeeper of the tournament, said it was 'a great feeling' to be recognised.

'It's a special feeling to be a trailblazer. I think it's something that means a lot to me,' she said.

'I'm a very ambitious person, a very hard-working person, and I think to try and push boundaries and try and be a pioneer for change, in many ways, is something that I really enjoy doing, and hopefully I can do for the rest of my career.'

England goalkeeper Mary Earps has become the first professional female footballer to have a wax figure at Madame Tussauds London

The Lioness said it was 'a bizarre one' that members of the public had voted for her, but hopes the rest of her teammates will soon have their own wax figures at Madame Tussauds London to help inspire people to 'push boundaries'.

'As Lionesses, one of the things that really sets us apart from other teams is how strong we are in our values and what we stand for,' she said.

'I think we're really big on trying to inspire as many people as possible - young, old, all ages, all genders - and I think this is another extension of that, and we're constantly trying to break barriers and push boundaries.'

She is most excited for her family to see her wax figure for the first time, particularly her grandmother who she joked might feel uneasy seeing a different version of Earps.

'I think that will be a real special moment for [my gran]. I'm not sure how she'll feel about there being two of me in the world, but we're about to find out,' she said.

The goalkeeper, who is from Nottingham, was signed by Paris Saint-Germain in July, after five years at Manchester United.  

Earps, who was also part of the team that won the Euros in 2022 and was awarded an MBE for her services to football in May, said she hopes her eyes, eyebrows and lashes are 'on point'.

'I think my eyebrows and my lashes, those are the two things that I'd really like to be really mega on point,' she explained.

The England goalkeeper hopes it will 'break barriers and push boundaries'

Earps' wax figure can be seen at Madame Tussauds London on Marylebone Road from the autumn

The waxwork will represent Earps' iconic roar on the field. Pictured after a match in July 2023 

'I think it's nice if the eyes can be perfect as well because I think that tells you a lot about a person and their character.'

Pictures so far show the figure dressed in football kit and appearing to roar during a game - although the final product is yet to be revealed.  

Jo Kinsey, studio manager at Madame Tussauds London, said: 'Mary Earps is a superstar who commits to excellence both on and off the pitch.

'From winning the nation's heart to winning the nation's vote, it was truly delightful having the opportunity to work with her for her first ever figure.

'Mary really got stuck in with the creative process, even helping with carving out the clay in the initial stages.'

Earps' wax figure can be seen at Madame Tussauds London on Marylebone Road from the autumn.

Lionesses goal keeper Mary Earps who has been announced as the first-ever professional female footballer to receive a wax figure at the London attraction following a public vote

Behind-the-scenes images show Mary being measured for the figure, including painstaking precision on her eyes

Earps has received a series of honours after her performances helped England reach the Women's World Cup final last year.

The 31-year-old was awarded the tournament's Golden Glove award, before scooping the Best FIFA Women's Goalkeeper award for the second successive year.

Earps was also named BBC's Sports Personality of the Year in December.

The goalkeeper had famously forced Nike into a U-turn after the sportwear giant had initially refused to sell her shirt during the World Cup. 

Several footballers have been turned into waxworks by Madame Tussauds in the past, including David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Mohamed Salah.

However, some celebrity figures in the past have not quite resembled who they were meant to be. 

Though Millie Bobby Brown, Heidi Klum, Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds' figures were praised for being very true to life, others have required a little more imagination. 

Earps saved a penalty in the Women's World Cup final, but England were beaten by Spain

Earps was named BBC's Sports Personality of the Year last year after her World Cup displays

In February 2024, following the release of Madame Tussauds Blackpool's wax statue of Beyoncé, angry members of the singer's fandom, known as the Beyhive, flocked to X (previously known as Twitter) to criticise the museum's attempt to create the superstar. 

In 2017 the Hollywood Madame Tussauds location unveiled a redecorated wax statue of Meryl Streep, with one small hitch - it didn't really look like the actress at all.

Mary Earps' figure will join the British culture zone alongside a wax David Attenborough in Autumn this year. 

The area also features Emmeline Pankhurst, Sir Lewis Hamilton, William Shakespeare, and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.