Camilla Herrem (34) had to lie VG journalist up in the face after someone had leaked to the press that she played the World Cup as a pregnant woman. She liked it very badly.
In the recent book “Camilla without filter”, Herrem opens up about life as a profiled handball player.
The spotlight also has shadowy sides that have not always been as pleasant.
In the book, Herrem tells of several episodes she has not particularly appreciated.
– This was «top secret»
One event she devotes a lot of space to in the book took place in November 2017. The Norwegian women’s national team was gathered to play the Møbelringen Cup as a final preparation before the World Cup in Germany two weeks later.
There, Herrem dropped the news that she was pregnant.
Since she was only eight weeks on the road, the girls on the national team were strictly told not to say a word about this to anyone.
“This was ‘top secret’, a secret only a select few had been inaugurated in. I could vividly imagine all the fuss about this being made known just before the World Cup, and I did not think it would be very fair to the opponents either, if they had to deal with the fact that the Norwegian left wing was pregnant. I trusted that the girls would hold tight, they had to promise, and as a dramatic gesture I dragged my thumb and forefinger along my lips to mime that the mouth should be closed with a zipper and that the mafia’s omertà, complete silence, had just come into force » , Herrem writes in the book.
She did not get what she wanted.
– Glowing rage built up
In the middle of the World Cup group games two weeks later, there were some who had not managed to keep close.
“We had arrived in Magdeburg and were getting ready to face Spain when VG’s experienced handball reporter Jostein Overvik pulled me aside during the press conference the day before the match. When we were out of earshot, he told me that reliable sources knew I was pregnant, and could I here and now confirm that? The brain reacted lightning fast, and I answered in a lowered voice that no, that was not true, I was not pregnant at all. I felt that a glowing rage was building up. Only the very closest family and three friends that I blindly trusted knew that I was pregnant, in addition to the national team players and the closest support staff, “she writes.
Thus, Herrem found himself in a difficult situation. She also had a good relationship with the journalist.
“In other words, someone had leaked and thus forced me to have to stand in front of Jostein Overvik in this way and lie to him straight in the face. It was extremely unpleasant, also because I had always had respect for him as a journalist and throughout my life had had honesty as a guide for everything I said and did. But here I had no choice. I had still not come out more than ten weeks into the pregnancy, and I wanted to decide for myself exactly when and how this would come out “, the book says.
– Do not hide that I was cursed
After the press conference, when all the girls were gathered for themselves, Herrem told what had happened.
Then she gave a clear message about what she thought about the leak.
“I did not hide in the slightest that I was cursed, but now everyone knew what I thought about it all, and then it was just to concentrate on the remaining World Cup matches. I did not intend to launch a large-scale investigation, and I did not have much faith that anyone would break down, confess and ask for forgiveness either, “she writes.
After losing the World Cup final against France, Herrem went straight home to Sola.
On December 22, she posted a picture on Instagram of the dog Lykke who posed with a bib around her neck where it said: «Guess what! I’m going to be big sister. ” Then the news was out.
Herrem has not yet been told who failed to keep a close eye on the pregnancy.
On July 7, 2018, his son Theo was born.
34-year-old Herrem has been in the handball spotlight since she broke through in Sola in the early 2000s.
She has played 250 international matches for Norway and been a mainstay for the Norwegian national team for years.
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