Justin Bieber follows 890 people on Instagram. Western Bulldogs defender Mua Laloifi is now one of them.

By Sophie Welsh/AFL.com.au with Western Bulldogs Media

Photos: Michael Willson/AFL Photos, Justin Bieber/IG:lilbieber

He’s one of the biggest celebrities in the world, and now Justin Bieber can be counted as an AFLW fan.

Western Bulldogs defender Mua Laloifi woke up to a massive surprise on Thursday morning last week, checking her social media accounts to find that the international pop superstar had followed her on Instagram.

The problem was, Laloifi didn’t know why.

“I was like ‘surely not, surely not’. After my 10 minutes of shock I woke up my partner and was like ‘Justin Bieber just followed me!’ She couldn’t believe it,” Laloifi told AFL.com.au.

“I thought I was dreaming. My partner looked at his following on Insta and was like ‘there’s Coco Gauff and Beyoncé, and you!’.

“It’s absolutely nuts. There are seven billion people in the world and he doesn’t follow that many people, and I’m one of them.”

At time of writing, Bieber has 294 million Instagram followers – the 12th most-followed account worldwide – and followed 890 people. While she’s not sure exactly why she’s now one of that exclusive group, Laloifi has been spreading the Bieber word among her teammates.

“I have no idea why. The only thing I can draw on is that the club posted a video of a training session and they asked me what a good soundtrack for the video would be. I suggested ‘Go Baby’ by Justin Bieber, and then I reposted the video on my Instagram story and tagged him,” she said.

“He’d get so many millions of people tagging him. I did not expect a cheeky follow.”

Laloifi has already used her newfound platform to invite Bieber to an AFLW game, sending the Canadian star a direct message on Instagram. Not only did he see the message, he responded.

“I was like, I’m gonna shoot my shot here and send him a message that if he and his family ever have a holiday in Australia and they want to see an AFLW game to let us know,” she said.

“And he hearted it! He liked my message!”

Bieber’s new album ‘Swag’ has helped Laloifi through the gruelling process of rehabilitating an ACL injury.

“His album just came out and I’ve been listening to it a lot. I’m a 90s baby so I grew up with his music and I just love it. As I get older, his music has become nice and chill,” Laloifi said.

“When I’m doing my rehab, I’ve put the new album on, or when I’m doing a puzzle, it’s just nice background music because it’s so nice and chill.”

Laloifi is aiming for a return in the first half of the AFLW season, which starts on August 14.

The Bulldogs’ first test against opposition will come against North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos in a match simulation this Friday evening at Mission Whitten Oval. 

Gates will open at 5pm and the event is free for members and fans to attend. 

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