So-called “RentTech” companies may be circumventing new Victorian laws designed to protect tenants’ personal data by asking for information outside the rental application process, a review as found.
The Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) identified rental platforms that encouraged hopeful tenants to share an “excessive” amount of personal information, or asked them questions that were “completely outside” the new rules.
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RentTech platforms are increasingly used by real estate agents in Australia for people applying for rental properties to submit applications and supporting documentation, meaning they store sensitive data.
An Australian Housing and Research Institute report released in January found while providing personal information is necessary for rental agreements, the “over-collection of data poses significant risks to renters’ data security and privacy”.
In addition to potentially putting people’s privacy at risk, RentTech companies continued to use controversial tools such as screening tests and “rewards” schemes, the CPRC found in its report on the sector, released on Thursday.
As part of its report, the CPRC reviewed Victoria’s rental reforms which, in March, established a new standard rental application form designed to limit the information real estate agents can request from renters.
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Victorian rental providers and agents can now only ask for the information set out in the standard form, which covers the details needed to confirm a renter’s identity and ability to pay rent.
The CPRC’s deputy chief executive officer, Chandni Gupta, said while there had been improvements in Victoria, these had not extended to other parts of Australia.
For example, in other jurisdictions, rental platforms were still asking more invasive questions of prospective tenants and charging people third-party fees for background checks or to process their applications and rental payments.
“Big tech will move the needle just enough and will narrowly follow, but likely won’t offer that same service outside of where there’s no obligations to do so,” Gupta said.
In New South Wales and South Australia, RentTech companies are banned from charging prospective tenants for background checks, but they are still allowed to request them.
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Between November 2025 and March 2026, the CPRC reviewed six RentTech platforms used for submitting and processing rental applications, payments and end of lease arrangements, as well as managing property maintenance.
Its findings were based on several “mystery shops” – mock rental applications on three of the major platforms – as well as interviews with Victorian renters and industry experts and reviews of the company’s privacy policies.
Even though real estate agencies may simply use personal information for rental applications, the data had the potential to be shared with a “wide variety” of entities including debt collectors and the providers of financial products, the CPRC found.
“It’s really difficult to ascertain how that data will be used for or against you and whether it might exclude you from the actual rental process, or whether it might even [expose you to] personalised particular products and services outside of that,” Gupta said.
“There’s a power imbalance between renters and the platforms they have to use because pushing back or finding an alternative is not an option.”
In April, the privacy commissioner found that one of Australia’s most-used RentTech platforms had collected unnecessary personal information from consumers via unfair means over a five-year period. %!s()
At the end of 2021, the British girl group Little Mix announced an indefinite hiatus that would begin the following summer once they wrapped their “Confetti” tour. They broke the news on X, denying an official breakup and confirming “plans for more music, tours and performances in the future.” Despite these plans, the girls cited the need for a break following a 10-year-long “non-stop adventure” that left them needing to “recharge.”
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Small wonder — it had been a long ride. The group formed on “The X Factor” in 2011 and quickly made a splash in the U.K., when their cover of Damien Rice’s “Cannonball” charted at No. 1 following their live performance. During their career, they racked up five U.K. No. 1 songs, 19 songs in the top 10, and one No. 1 album (“Glory Days”). Stateside, the girls did not achieve those same numbers, but were still well received, becoming the first British girl group with a debut album to chart in the Top 5 in the album’s first week.
In the aftermath of such a powerhouse group, Jade Thirlwall, by then 29, had to decide what came next. Sticking to music was a given, but what that would look like without two of her closest friends by her side was unclear.
“I had pretty much written a whole record by the summer after the hiatus,” she explains to Variety, just after her Lollapalooza set last month. “I’d got in my head that I’ve got to strike while the iron’s hot, got to stay relevant. Thankfully, some of my people around me were like, ‘Just wait and keep writing.’ In hindsight, I listen to some of that music, and it does just kind of sound like Little Mix.”
Of the group’s three members, it took her the longest to embark on her solo career, but she’s fine with it. “I really had to exist on my own for a bit, and be like, okay, who am I now, you know? It’s like when you break up with someone, and you all of a sudden have to find your identity again.”
Experimenting with her musical identity was only the first step. The real crux of her career boils down to the unexpected, and for inspiration, she turned to artists who, like her, had come out of groups and needed to take a risk to capture the world’s attention. This time, as an individual. “You get one chance to cement yourself as a solo artist coming out of a group; it’s a lot of pressure. My logic was, I’d rather come out fucking swinging with something brave and bold and might miss, but at least you can’t say I’ve not tried to do something big.”
For example, “I was really inspired by Gwen Stefani’s “What You Waiting For?” because she came out [as a solo artist] with that banger. I loved that the concept was about her not knowing what to write for her first record. Genius!
“So I was really drawn to artists that had come out of groups, and I think the thing I loved about those artists was they came out swinging and they took a risk, like Gwen did,” she continues. “You know, Beyoncé had no business bringing out a whole fucking brass band for ‘Crazy In Love,’ and doing that walk in the video,” she laughs.
And come out swinging she did. Thirlwall’s debut single “Angel of My Dreams” was released on July 14, 2024, just over two years after Little Mix’s hiatus began. The fast-tempo electropop song — and accompanying music video — details her “toxic, love-hate relationship” with the music industry, a theme she continued exploring in her debut album “That’s Showbiz Baby!” just over a year later. At the root of it all her perception of fame.
“I think [it’s] a drug. It’s addictive. And I think even the strongest artists that think they’re above it, or that they’re not bothered by being famous, have that human part of [them] that craves validation or attention, especially in this pop industry. It’s literally part of the job to remain relevant and have people talk about you. It’s really hard to not sort of base your life around that.”
She speaks from experience, saying that being back on a promotional run, this time for her solo album and without bandmates by her side, sucked her right back into things like “worrying about numbers, trying to feel relevant” and “checking all the comments.” In fact, the stress landed Thirlwall back in therapy, something she’d started while in Little Mix but had since taken a pause. All the things she thought she’d healed from post-Little Mix got “retriggered,” and it became clear that she wasn’t as far removed from that fame-plagued caricature as she thought.
But she says with a smile that it was a lesson she needed. “I really do have a much healthier relationship out of the back of ‘That’s Showbiz Baby!’ I know going into this next record, some might argue that it’s even more pressure, but this is the bonus round again. And I think every time something does well, I’m like, ‘Oh, great! Alright, let’s do the next thing.'”
Now that she’s found that success — most recently in the form of a Mercury Prize nomination — she jokes that she’ll “always remember” the producers and writers who didn’t want to work on her first solo project. “There are people that have gotten in touch since, being like, ‘Do you want to do a writing session?’ and I’m like, ‘Hell no!'”
She laughs again, before turning serious. “I couldn’t have predicted this amount of critical acclaim. I really don’t take it for granted at all. I feel overwhelmed that I managed to create something that was so authentically me, and people have been like, ‘Yeah, we like that.’ In the U.K., [the Mercury Prize] is one of the big ‘uns, and it’s just a beautiful ending to that era and campaign.
“It’s kind of like the universe saying, ‘Stay true to yourself’ — especially going into the next record.” %!s()
Greek teenage star Konstantinos Karetsas faced ‘circulatory problems’ and was stretchered off against Villarreal.
Borussia Dortmund teenage star Konstantinos Karetsas was being treated at the hospital after slumping to the turf 25 minutes into his Champions League debut, the German club said.
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“Konstantinos Karetsas had to leave the field due to circulatory problems,” Dortmund said in a statement late on Tuesday. “Kosta is doing well under the circumstances and is on his way to the hospital for further tests.”
Facing Villarreal, the 18-year-old Greek prospect passed the ball to a teammate, then signalled his distress to the referee before sitting on the grass.
Karetsas was treated lying down and then taken away on a stretcher. The score was 0-0 at the time in what became a 3-2 win for Dortmund.
“I hope and I think that everything is OK, and I hope that he’s back and fit with us soon,” Dortmund goalkeeper Gregor Kobel told a broadcaster.
Konstantinos Karetsas receives medical attention before being put on a stretcher [Leon Kuegeler/Reuters]
Karetsas and his Greek teammate Giannis Konstantelias were marquee signings for Dortmund in the off-season. Former Belgium youth international Karetsas joined for $34.9m from Genk and Konstantelias for $30.2m from PAOK.
Karetsas was reportedly a target for many clubs after impressing at Genk last season. He set up 11 goals in 28 Jupiler Pro League appearances. He signed a five-year contract through June 2031.
“With his creativity and game intelligence, Kos will enrich our team,” Dortmund sporting director Ole Book said. “He is technically very skilled and has the ability to find quick solutions in tight spaces, especially in the final third.”
Karetsas played for Belgium’s youth teams before opting to represent his parents’ country and making his debut for Greece in March 2025. He has scored three goals in 10 international appearances.
Meanwhile, 23-year-old Konstantelias’ season was likely ended last month by an ACL injury on his Bundesliga debut. %!s()
The reported truce follows the release of 360 villagers abducted during a Boko Haram attack in northeastern Nigeria.
The Nigerian government has been involved in a secret ceasefire with Boko Haram for the past three months, according to an investigation by The New Humanitarian, in a development that could mark a rare pause in years of fighting in northeastern Nigeria.
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The reported truce began in June after negotiations that secured the release of 360 civilians abducted from Ngoshe village, in the foothills of the Mandara Mountains near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, The New Humanitarian reported.
Three people with contacts among Boko Haram members, including some senior figures, independently told the organisation that the ceasefire had been in effect since June and was likely to be extended for another 40 days.
Two of the sources said attacks had stopped in communities around Ngoshe, which have repeatedly been targeted by the armed group.
Truce followed mass abduction
The 360 villagers were abducted in March during a Boko Haram attack on a nearby army base, according to The New Humanitarian.
The negotiations that led to their release reportedly included a payment of five billion naira ($3.7m) by the Nigerian government.
The alleged payment has become controversial in Nigeria, with the government denying that it paid a ransom.
The New Humanitarian said it contacted government, defence and army spokespeople to verify the reported ceasefire but received no response before publication.
Al Jazeera has not been able to independently verify the reported ceasefire or the alleged payment.
The reported agreement does not include Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), a rival armed group that operates in northeastern Nigeria and the wider Lake Chad region.
Fighting between Boko Haram and ISWAP has continued, according to The New Humanitarian.
Government publicly rejects talks
The reported ceasefire comes despite the Nigerian government’s public rejection of negotiations with Boko Haram, which is designated as a “terrorist organisation” by the Nigerian authorities.
President Bola Tinubu has instead focused on expanding the military’s capacity to fight armed groups. In July, he announced plans to recruit 30,000 additional personnel and create four new army divisions.
Behind the scenes, however, there have been repeated attempts to establish dialogue with Boko Haram, according to The New Humanitarian, citing security officials, diplomats and mediators familiar with previous efforts.
Those efforts have included ceasefire arrangements that eventually collapsed.
Conflict researcher Malik Samuel told The New Humanitarian that the latest reported agreement should not necessarily be interpreted as the beginning of a lasting peace process.
“It could be just a temporary, tactical ceasefire that benefits both sides, but doesn’t really affect the trajectory of the war,” Samuel said.
The current arrangement could also allow Boko Haram to strengthen its position, with two sources warning that the group could use the pause to move equipment into the Mandara Mountains, The New Humanitarian reported.
Boko Haram has carried out attacks and kidnappings in northeastern Nigeria and neighbouring countries around the Lake Chad region since 2009. The group has since fractured into several factions, while ISWAP operates as a separate and rival armed group. %!s()
There was a time when Chanen Johnson could say, “I’m making more money than an NFL player,” referring to her husband, New Orleans Saints tight end Juwan Johnson.
While she has fun bragging about that now, that wasn’t always the case. At first, she was conflicted about how much she wanted to share with the world. But after growing exasperated with the amount of hate she and other women who are in relationships with professional athletes were receiving — being called gold diggers, among the more polite invectives, and accused of being spoiled while their husbands paid all the bills — she finally decided to set the record straight.
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“I was initially pretty scared to share that this was actually profitable for me,” she tells The Hollywood Reporter of her social media career. “But I was getting so angry that people were saying I didn’t have a job.” Just in case the haters weren’t aware, Chanen absolutely has a job — one that involves creating content for her nearly 4 million followers across multiple platforms.
Chanen is among a new generation of wives and girlfriends of pro athletes, aka WAGs, who have proudly reclaimed the once-demeaning term. The acronym first appeared in British tabloids in the early 2000s to refer to English soccer players’ partners, such as Victoria Beckham and Cheryl Cole. The collective term lumped these women together, robbing them of individuality and reducing them to merely decorative fixtures of Premier League broadcasts while erasing their individual accomplishments.
Fast-forward to today, and WAGs are taking power back with the help of social media, creating content that shows what actually goes on in the life of an athlete’s spouse. This has resulted in massive social media followings, sometimes bigger than their husbands’ — Chanen has 770,000 followers on Instagram alone, which is 600,000 more than Juwan can claim on the platform.
Allison Kucharczyk and “Allisons Husband” Isaac Rochell at the Kentucky Derby in 2025.
Jeff Schear/Getty Images
Every sport has its WAGs and its WAG fans. But in the U.S., one league reigns supreme in terms of WAG star power: the NFL.
At the top of the WAG hierarchy are the A-list spouses, such as Taylor Swift (wife of Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce), Simone Biles (Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens’ wife) and Hailee Steinfeld (wife of Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen). They have their own respective fan bases thanks to their successful careers before meeting their athlete partners. But at a lower tier, WAGs are building empires via content creation, leaning into the label placed upon them by the public and proving their value extends far beyond just being a wife.
“Obviously people have these preconceived notions of what it’s like to be married to an athlete, so I kind of ran with it and just turned what hurt my feelings into a joke, and it turned into a career for me,” Chanen says of her early satirical content about being in a relationship with Juwan, then an undrafted free agent, when she launched her TikTok account in 2020.
At the beginning, if someone left a nasty comment suggesting she uses all of her husband’s money, she would playfully mock them by posting a video of her carrying a stack of cash. If a hater called her a trophy wife, she would deliver a comedic clapback.
Chanen would also mix in straightforward videos offering a peek inside her relationship with Juwan and her day-to-day routine, which she saw as an opportunity to “shut down all of the false realities that people think about our life.”
Several other partners — such as Allison Kucharczyk (wife to former NFL defensive end Isaac Rochell), Ann Michael Maye (Patriots quarterback Drake Maye’s wife), Sadé Vanessa (NFL wide receiver Robbie Chosen’s partner) and Claire Kittle (wife to San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle), to name a few — have also built followings, some in the millions, with social content that pulls back the curtain on the realities of being a pro athlete’s wife or girlfriend.
Kucharczyk — who has garnered more than 1.1 million followers — never misses an opportunity to tease her former NFL player husband about his far lower follower count. (Fans regularly refer to Rochell as “Mr. Kuch.”) The NFL got in on the joke when he was still playing for the Las Vegas Raiders. In 2022, Kucharczyk posted a TikTok video showing a jersey the NFL sent the pair with the words, “Allisons Husband” displayed on the back. “The NFL finally fixed his jersey,” she captioned the video, which featured a shocked Isaac playfully reacting to the change.
Kucharczyk’s and Chanen’s partners enthusiastically support their wife’s endeavors, regularly appearing in videos, often in humorous or self-deprecating scenarios. But Chanen acknowledged that it’s “rare” to see a male athlete as supportive as her partner, as “a lot of times there are guys who don’t necessarily love their girls posting a bunch of stuff” about their personal life and relationship.
The reluctance by some players to let the public in, even on a choreographed version of their private life, is understandable, especially given how protective the NFL and its teams are of their brands. Nonetheless, the league has come to recognize the positive impact of embracing athletes’ partners and the fan bases they bring, leading them to seek out their own collaboration opportunities.
Chanen Johnson and Juwan Johnson at the 14th Annual NFL Honors in 2025 in New Orleans. Says Chanen: “Obviously people have these preconceived notions of what it’s like to be married to an athlete, so I kind of ran with it and just turned what hurt my feelings into a joke, and it turned into a career for me.”
Christopher Polk/Variety/Getty Images
Kristin Juszczyk (wife of Niners fullback Kyle Juszczyk), who captured people’s attention with her custom game-day outfits she made for herself, later secured an official licensing deal with the NFL to create custom jackets and matching head-to-toe looks, often worn by high-profile WAGs, including Swift. Chanen says she’s partnered with the Saints on game days and at community events as well as with the NFL and Super Bowl on video collabs, which “honestly gave them a lot of extra attention as they obviously love social media and just the women behind it.”
Sports leagues have acknowledged the business acumen and content creation skills that led these women to become social media powerhouses. “I got the opportunity to speak at the NFL annual meeting,” Chanen recalls. “They brought me in and they were like, ‘Hey, this is what Chanen is doing on social, and it’s working for her and it brings her audience into really loving football. And that’s something that we love and we want to incorporate.’ ”
The pro football league’s WAGs aren’t the only ones catching people’s attention and building fan bases of their own — social media scrollers can also catch wives and girlfriends sitting trackside at F1 races, courtside at NBA games and in the stands at soccer matches, among many other sports.
Alexandra Leclerc (F1 driver Charles Leclerc’s wife) is a hugely popular source of style inspiration. Tennis pro Taylor Fritz’s former girlfriend Morgan Riddle was dubbed “the most famous woman in men’s tennis” when they were together. And Jordyn Woods (New York Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns’ partner) went viral when fans decided her purse was a mystical good-luck charm for the team during their historic championship run this year.
The WAG phenomenon inspired Maddy Sells to create WAGTalk, the digital video series in which she interviews professional athletes’ partners across leagues. “Some women … are very, very private,” she says of her guests, “but have the coolest stories ever that I’ve been so excited to get out.”
Since its early 2025 launch, Sells has noticed more and more men engaging in the comments, a “huge variation” that, she says, took her by surprise. “A lot of men come up to me and were like, ‘Oh my gosh, I love WAGTalk.’ And I was like, ‘Whoa, I did not expect that,’ ” she admits.
Some men are even looking to get on the WAG action. Amid the recent rise in WNBA viewership, Zach Ellwanger (husband to Minnesota Lynx guard Maya Caldwell) saw an opportunity to launch his TikTok series “The Real House Husband of the WNBA.”
Drake Maye and Ann Michael Maye before the start of Super Bowl LX against the Seattle Seahawks on Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Despite having only started the series in June, Ellwanger tells THR that he and Caldwell have both been surprised by the “pretty explosive reaction” from viewers. Not only have they each gained 14,000 followers on social media in the past two months, but he says “there are a lot of people that continue to want to see” his day-in-the-life style content that offers a “unique perspective” as a husband traveling around the world supporting his wife’s career.
Ellwanger, who works as a luxury goods consultant by day, embraces his newfound “HAB” (husbands and boyfriends) status, excited to be “bringing more eyes to women’s sports” with his content. “If I can play a role in that, that’s great.”
When it comes to WNBA athletes and their partners, WAGTalk’s Sells says, “It’s so cool to see that side of things because, again, they don’t get as much spotlight,” compared to male-centered leagues. She thinks there’s plenty of room in the WAG space for boyfriends and husbands because “people want to see everything,” adding that her audience especially loves seeing queer relationships within the women’s pro basketball league.
Amid their cultural ascendancy, many WAGs are looking at ways to expand their footprint beyond the sports or social media worlds. Some have already signed with top Hollywood agencies and received offers for reality shows, podcasts, brand deals and more, turning their digital followings into business empires.
Kucharczyk has teamed with major brands like Abercrombie & Fitch and Dick’s Sporting Goods, in addition to a marketing partnership with NBCUniversal and Visa for the 2026 Winter Olympics. As for Chanen, she’s partnered with brands like Ulta Beauty and Cheetos and hopes to do more speaking engagements and potential hosting opportunities with her husband.
As Chanen’s career has reached new heights, so has her husband’s. As she tells THR, making more money than her husband is “not something I could brag about anymore” as Juwan has “surpassed me in that,” having since become starter for the Saints.
Her dedicated fans don’t have to worry about her leaving social media anytime soon, however. Despite having been approached with reality TV show opportunities, Chanen says they “never really aligned with our lifestyle and our schedules.” Plus, since she and her husband “are so raw on the internet anyway,” she says, “there’s nothing about us that really people don’t know at our core.”
This story appears in The Hollywood Reporter’s September 2026 Sports issue. Click here to read more. %!s()
